Clone Club: High School Edition
by RipleyBrennan
Summary: AU Sarah, Beth, Cosima, and Alison meet in high school and try to figure out who they are to each other. Rating for language. Some Cophine in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"Sarah, I don't know about this. You're already on probation," Felix whispered, as they approached a group of cheerleaders gathered by the lockers.

"Felix, this will be a piece of cake, alright? Rich bitches like them won't even know the money's missing!" Sarah smirked, opening her locker and grabbing her books.

"But we're using it to replace that vase Mrs. S!" Felix insisted. "What if she finds out we broke it while we're at school? She'll ask where we got the money, and then what do we tell her? We'll be in even more trouble!" He fidgeted nervously, smoothing out his button down shirt, and adjusting his hair in the mirror in Sarah's locker, until she pushed him back.

"Fe, stop! You know that everyone already thinks your gay, and your constant primping won't make it any better." She hated herself for saying that—truth be told, she could care less whether her brother was queer (and figured he probably was), but he was only a freshman and high school could be brutal, you know? She didn't want him to go through that.

Felix turned away and sheepishly fiddled with his collar, until Sarah turned him to face her, her voice softer, "If she figures it out, _which she won't,_ I'll tell Mrs. S that we did housework for that old coot down the street. She doesn't remember shite anyhow, so S won't even bother going to check with her. We'll be good, yeah? Come on, I'm doing this for you! I want you to be able to audition for that stupid play or whatever, and you can't do that grounded from your bedroom, now can you?"

Felix shuffled his feet a bit, "Oh, alright. But be careful, okay?" Sarah nodded, "Now, get to class! I don't want you hanging around to fuck things up." She smiled at her brother, playfully shoving him down the hall, before slamming her locker shut.

The bell rang and the cheerleaders slowly scattered, leaving only one, a brunette, meticulously putting her books into her bag, one by one. _Perfect_, Sarah thought. She slyly walked up behind the brunette, and, seeing her wallet poking out of her bag, she grabbed it and calmly walked off in the other direction. Confident that she had successfully procured the money necessary to get Felix and herself out of hot water for breaking S's vase, she grinned. But suddenly—

"Ouch!" Someone was yanking on the back of her hair.

"Give it back, you filthy little ragamuffin!" the cheerleader shrieked, attempting to turn her around

"Oi, prissy! I ain't got nothing of yours," Sarah lied, trying to stuff the wallet into her pocket before anyone noticed. "Now, Christ, let go of my hair!"

"No! Give it back!" the brunette shrieked again.

"What's going on over there?" Yelled a student hall monitor from across the hall, as she began to swiftly make her way towards the scene. The cheerleader stepped in front of Sarah who was just about to sock her in the face when she stopped. This girl looked _exactly_ like her. Well, other than the preppy, expensive clothing, the perfectly straightened hair, and the bangs anyway, they were identical. "Holy shite," whispered Sarah. But the girl, clearly shocked by Sarah's impending fist, didn't have time to notice the similarities. She already had her pepper spray out and blasted Sarah in the face. Or tried to, but it backfired, spraying her instead.

The cheerleader screamed, clutching her eyes, as Sarah stood dumbfounded. By this point, the hall monitor had arrived. "Okay, what's going on here?" But she stopped when she saw Sarah, "Woah." Sarah's eyes widened even further as she looked at this girl, who also looked _exactly_ like her. Even more so than the screaming cheerleader.

Despite her shock, Sarah knew that, with the cheerleader's screaming, the hall monitors (the grown up ones, not the kiss-ass students) would be by any second. She grabbed the cheerleader, and shoved her into an empty classroom nearby. "In here," she urgently whispered to the hall monitor look alike, who hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, her curiosity overpowered her need to follow the rules.

Sarah closed the door. Knowing they would need something to quiet the cheerleader, looked around the room. It was a science classroom, and she hurried the girl over to the emergency eye wash to rinse the pepper spray out of her eyes. The cheerleader's whimpers quieted slightly.

"What are you doing here? That's for chemical emergencies only!" A voice rang out behind her. Sarah cursed; she thought the room was empty. "She sprayed herself with pepper spray, alright?" She turned to see where the voice was coming from, and froze. Yet another look alike, this girl with long dreadlocks and thick black glasses. Sarah sat down at a nearby desk, while the other girls looked at each other in shocked silence.

The cheerleader, having rinsed the majority of the spray from her eyes, turned off the eyewash and, slowly overcoming the disorientation, walked toward Sarah, "Now, will you give me back my wallet?" She looked at Sarah, and stopped, before looking around the room, slowly filling with terror. She began to hyper ventilate, and looked ready to scream again, when Sarah jumped up, putting a hand over her mouth, "Quiet, okay?"

"B-b-but this is impossible!" the cheerleader whispered urgently. "Yeah, no shit Sherlock!" Sarah snapped back, "But you're bloody shrieking is going to give us up and then what are we gonna do, huh?"

"And how are we going to figure this out on our own?" the cheerleader retorted, clearly seeing no reason to trust this punk thief, even if she did look just like her.

"Well, let's start with introductions," interjected dreadlocks. The other three turned to her, surprised by such a simple suggestion amidst such a strange occurrence. "I'm Cosima."

There was a tense pause. "Beth," responded the hall monitor, though if they had been paying attention, they could have guessed it from her nametag.

"Alison," squeaked out the cheerleader.

"Sarah," the punk finally responded.

They stood in shocked silence for another minute, before Sarah, responded, "Okay? Now what?"

"What? Nothing! This is clearly impossible," snapped Alison, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Is it?" replied Cosima, "I mean, I know it seems unbelievable, but here we are!" She was the only one of the girls who appeared to be excited by the mystery, rather than just freaked out.

They sat in silence for another moment, before Beth hesitantly mumbled, "Well, I'm adopted."

"Yeah? Good for you. What's that got to do with anything?" Sarah snarked.

"I just mean," she continued, "that I don't know my biological family. So… I mean, what if this is one of those separated at birth things?"

"I'm adopted too," Cosima added, smiling slightly, the cogs turning in her head.

"Yeah, I'm an orphan," Sarah interjected. "I've got a foster mom and a foster brother, but no biological family."

The three girls turned to Alison, who looked at them smugly. "Well, sorry to disappoint. I was raised by my_ real_ parents." Sarah scowled. _Bitch_.

Cosima smiled at her hesitantly, "Alison, um… well, is it at all possible that maybe you were adopted?" Alison looked at her horrified, "No, dreadlocks! It's not! How dare you even suggest that!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, it's just…" Cosima proceeded gently, "It's just that, I didn't know either until about a year ago. I mean, I had kind of suspected. I'm so different from the rest of my family. Then last year, we figured out our blood types in AP Biology. I'm type A. Both my parents are type B. I found it on their Red Cross donor cards. So, it's impossible for them to be my biological parents, you see, because of the genetic—"

"Okay, we get it, geek," Sarah interjected. Cosima rolled her eyes, and continued, "I just mean, Alison… look at us? How else would it be possible?"

Alison looked away, her eyes filling with tears, "But, I mean, why wouldn't they tell me? And how do I find out?"

Cosima, thinking through a plan, began, "Well, if you give me a sample of your blood I could compare—"

"If I give you _what_?" Alison shrieked. "Oi, keep quiet!" hissed Sarah. Beth took a deep breath, and put a hand on Alison's shoulder, which she promptly shrugged away, but Beth stepped closer anyway, "Maybe you could start by just asking?"

Alison stepped back from the other three, "Why? Why would I do that? What if I don't want to know? I mean, sure, we look similar. Eerily so. But is that any reason to turn our lives upside down?"

Cosima threw her hands up in exasperation, "Don't you want to know? Aren't you curious?" Beth and Sarah looked at her sympathetically. Both had wondered about their biological families before as well. Who wouldn't?

"Well," said Beth, "We should probably be getting to class, don't you think?" Sarah rolled her eyes, "Look at Miss Goodie Two shoes over here—"

"You all can stay here," said Cosima. "It's my independent research period—"

"Your _what_?" Sarah scoffed.

"Independent research. I've taken all the science classes the school has to offer, so until I can go to college next year, I talked the school into letting me do a free period to research microbiology. And no one ever checks up on me, so—"

"Bloody genius," Sarah stood up. Beth began again, "I mean, I wasn't thinking that we would get caught, just that we should maybe meet again another time?" She seemed to sense that a bit of time and space to process might be helpful, especially for Alison.

"Yeah? Where do you suggest we do that?" Sarah began to pace, "I mean, we can't exactly just hang out in the cafeteria. We all look the same."

"I'm surprised we haven't seen each other already," mused Cosima.

"It's a big school," provided Beth. "And it's not as if we take the same classes or do the same things. We're so different."

Cosima nodded, "How about we meet in my lab?"

"What?" the other three said in unison.

"I'll explain later. But it's private. No one will bother us," Cosima went on, "Just go to the back of the science building. There's a staircase at back that looks like it's leading to a dead end. Follow it down, there's a door at the bottom. Open it, and then go to the third door on the right. Knock three times, and I'll let you in. Okay?"

The three girls just nodded, dumbfounded.

"Alright, I'll meet you later this afternoon. After school. But nobody tell anyone about this alright?" Sarah said curtly.

"What do you think would happen if someone found out?" Alison asked.

"Look, I don't know. I just feel like it's best if this stays between us, yeah?"

The other three nodded, and then, one by one, left the science room to their perspective classes.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah rushed through the halls as soon as the final bell rang. She needed to find Felix, and let him know that she would be staying after school. She hated that she couldn't tell him why, but it just didn't seem like the right time just yet.

She spotted him at the end of the hall, "Fe!" She called. He saw her, blew a kiss good-bye to the group of girls he was chatting with, and walked over to meet her. "What? I was just saying good-bye." Sarah rolled her eyes, "Look, whatever," she said, "I have something to do. Cover for me?"

"Sarah!" he whined, "We have to figure out how to replace the vase! You were going to come with me!" Sarah took out Alison's wallet, grabbed the money from it, ($80, bloody _hell_ this girl was loaded), and shoved it at Felix, "Here's the money. There's a shop on 6th that has a vase just like the one we broke. Just go buy it and sneak it back in. You got this. Keep the change as a thank you."

Felix hesitated, "Sarah, you know I'm not as good at this stuff as you are."

Sarah sighed, then grasped his shoulders, "Felix, you can do this, alright?" He sighed, and then nodded, "Okay, but you owe me!"

But Sarah was already down the hall. She headed toward the science building, to the back and found the staircase that Cosima had been talking about. She looked around, and after confirming that the coast was clear, she quickly headed down the stairs to the door at the bottom. She entered, and proceeded to the third door on the right. She took a deep breath and then knocked three times.

A moment later the door opened. It was Cosima, who smiled and greeted Sarah, "Good, you're here. Come on in." She stepped aside, allowing Sarah to enter, before closing the door behind her and locking it.

Sarah looked around. She was in a big room, about as big as a classroom but without any windows. There was a old pink couch and fluffy blue rug in one corner, with a lava lamp seated atop a small bookcase. The rest of the room was filled with old school desks which had been carved with curse words, answers to exams, and hearts with initials inside. Against the wall, there were a few old metal cabinets, filled with an assortment of chemicals and equipment.

"Woah," said Sarah, "What is this place?"

Cosima smiled, "It's my lab! The room is an abandoned bomb shelter. No one ever comes in here—no reason to. I figured out how to pick the lock, and then started to bring in some stuff. I stole some desks, the bookcase, and the cabinets from this old storage room upstairs. They had some old lab equipment in the closet on the chemistry floor. And I'm a TA for the AP Biology class, so whenever there's left over lab supplies from a class assignment, I take it to stock my lab." Sarah walked up to the cabinets. There was a microscope, some beakers and slides, notebooks and pens, and other things that Sarah didn't recognize. Cosima went on describing the space, pointing to everything she described, "The couch and rug were set to be thrown away—from the teacher's lounge, and the lava lamp," her grin widened, "is mine." She looked around at the space proudly, and Sarah could tell that this was her home. "Do you like it?"

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, I'm impressed. I didn't think there was anywhere at this bloody school worth being, but you've made a real nice place here." In reality, while Sarah was impressed with the space, it wasn't really her style. Kind of stifling, without any light or anything. But she could sense it was important to Cosima.

Just then, they heard three knocks on the door. Cosima hopped up to answer it. Beth and Alison entered a moment later, both appearing as intrigued by the "lab" as Sarah had been. Once the other girls had been given the tour by Cosima, Sarah plopped herself down on the couch and asked, "So, what are we doing here?"

"I mean," replied Cosima, seating herself on the arm of the sofa, "I want to know… who we are, to each other."

"We've got to be related somehow," chimed in Beth. "Sisters or something."

"Like I said, that's _impossible_ because I'm _not adopted_," snapped Alison. Sarah ignored her, instead responding to Beth, "Not just sisters though. We look practically the same. Could we be quadruplets or something?"

"It's possible," answered Cosima, "But that's rare, and identical quadruplets are even more rare." She thought a moment, "You're all born in 1984, yeah?" The other three nodded. "March 9?" she inquired. They shook their heads.

"April 1," responded Beth.

"April 4," replied Alison.

They looked at Sarah. Not keen on sharing any additional personal information with these strangers, she simply countered, "Some time in March, alright? Not the 9th." Cosima nodded, "So we can't be quadruplets then, can we? And we can't be sisters either."

"Birth certificates can get all fucked up with orphans," Sarah retorted. "It could be that we don't even know our real birthdays."

"_I _know _mine_, because I'm _not adopted_," Alison insisted through gritted teeth, her hands balling themselves into fists of frustration.

The other three continued to ignore Alison's protests, "But, if we were quadruplets, we would all be born in the same hospital? I mean, I don't know, it just doesn't make sense for our birthdays to be off by that much," reasoned Beth.

They pondered in silence for a moment, until Cosima's eyes lit up, and she smiled slowly.

"There is another possibility," suggested Cosima.

"Yeah, what is it then?" barked Sarah.

Cosima twisted her hands, her mind obviously moving quickly, exploring the possibilities, "What if… well, we could be clones."

The other three sat in stunned silence, "You've got to be kidding me," Sarah finally whispered. And then louder, "Cosima, that's nuts! You're reading too much science fiction."

Cosima jumped to her feet and began to pace on her rug, her hands gesticulating madly as she put together the theory, "I mean, yes, there have never been any confirmed cases with humans, for obvious ethical reasons, but it is theoretically possible. They've done it with other animals; tadpoles, fish, rats. A few years ago, they even successfully cloned a sheep!"

Beth shook her head, "No, that can't be it. How on earth could they keep something like this quiet?"

Sarah stood as well, her arms wrapped tightly across her chest, "I mean, people who could pull of something that crazy, _human clones_, they're probably got the money and power to do whatever they want."

The four girls remained still for a moment, nobody saying a word, until Alison broke the silence, barely above a whisper, "Well, if someone did create us, _which they obviously didn't_, but if they did… what do they want with us?"

With that, Sarah was ready to go, "Look, I've had enough of this for one day, alright? I'm gonna head home." She turned to Alison and tossed her the wallet she had stolen earlier, "Here you go." Alison looked inside, "You took my money!" She cried, glowering at Sarah.

"That's right," Sarah replied, "I needed it. What are you gonna do? Say you're clone took it?" Alison pursed her lips, realizing Sarah was right—she couldn't report her without revealing this whole crazy mess, which she certainly wasn't ready for. "Besides," continued Sarah, "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to have pepper spray at school. Why in the bloody hell do you have it anyway?" Alison looked down, "It's an _urban_ area." Sarah rolled her eyes, "Alright, later clone club." She snarked, swaggering toward the door.

"Okay, can we _not_ use the C-word?" hissed Alison, "We don't even know what this is, yet."


	3. Chapter 3

Alison pulled her BMW into the driveway the suburban house where she lived with her parents (her _real_ parents, thank you very much. The car, in fact, had been her sixteenth birthday present from those lovely, _real_ parents.) She grabbed her backpack and cheerleading duffle out of the trunk, clicked the alarm on, and scurried into the house. It was almost 6:30pm, and she didn't want to be late for dinner.

"Hi darling," cooed her father as she walked in the door, his eyes casually looking up from the paper he was reading. "How was your day?"

Alison took a deep breathe, making sure to keep her composure so that her father would not catch on to all that had occurred that day, "I had a lovely day, Daddy." Her father beamed at her, "Glad to hear it! Why don't you put your things down and help your mother set the table? Dinner's almost ready."

"Will do!" Alison chirped, heading upstairs to her bedroom. When she was safely inside her room with the door shut, she threw her bags down onto the floor, and collapsed onto her bed and closed her eyes. It had been a long day. When she finally opened her eyes, she stared over at the picture of her with her parents taken at her Sweet Sixteen, placed lovingly in a wooden frame on her nightstand. She looked at her parents, both with their blonde hair, and ran her fingers through her brown locks. She hadn't thought much of it until today—after all, was the color of your hair really that big a deal? Maybe her brown hair was a recessive trait, or whatever it was called. She had made a mental note to ask that dreadlocks science geek about that when she saw her next, but then dismissed it harshly from her mind. It doesn't matter. Whoever those girls were, they were wrong. She wasn't adopted. Her parents would have told her if she was, wouldn't they?

She shook herself out of her daydreams and headed downstairs, knowing if she wasn't down in a moment, her parents would come up and ask if she was okay, and she didn't want to lie any more than she had to. Heading into the kitchen, she saw her mother pulling a potroast out of the oven, "Just in time!" her mother cheered. "Would you mind setting some plates on the table, dear?" Alison nodded, "Not at all, Mom." She reached into the cabinet and grabbed three plates, three sets of silverware, and three glasses. Balancing the cups and silverware atop the plates, she made her way to the dining room table and set each place with care, trying not to think about the events of the day. There was no need to worry about that now—she was home with her parents who loved her.

* * *

Cosima unlocked the small apartment, and slowly creaked the door open, trying to slip in unnoticed. Stepping over piles of old newspapers, and boxes that had yet to be unpacked since the move eight months ago, she walked swiftly, but quietly upstairs to the room she shared with her six-year-old brother Mikey.

She and Mikey had moved here with their Mom about eight months ago, about a month after their father was killed in a car accident. Cosima's father had been a scientist, researching astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley. His salary provided enough for their family to live comfortably in a small house outside San Francisco. But after his death, her mom soon learned that the part time job she held at her church wouldn't be nearly enough to support the family, so they moved in with Cosima's mom's sister in Ontario, Canada.

"Cosima?" a voice sounded from down the hall. Cosima sighed, and walked down the hall toward her mother's room. Peaking inside, she saw her mother sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair and putting in some earrings, "Yeah, mom?" she responded.

Her mother looked at her in the mirror, "Clean yourself up and put your church dress on. Your Aunt should be home from work any moment and then we have to go or we'll be late for church." Cosima sighed, "Mom, I have homework. Do I really have to go? Dude, it's a Tuesday for Christ's sake!" Her mother swiveled around and looked at her sternly, "Watch you language, young lady. And you know it's important to your Aunt. She's done a lot for us." Cosima rolled her eyes, knowing there was no use in arguing. "Fine," she sputtered, trudging down the hall to her room, and slamming the door to her room.

She reached into her closet and pulled out the frilly pink dress with the poofy sleeves that her Aunt had given her to wear to church, which she had to attend at least three times a week. Looking at the dress practically made her sick.

Cosima had never truly fit into her family. Unlike her parents, who were both quiet and practical people, she had always been bubbly and energetic, with a flare of spontaneity. But she and her father had shared a special connection –their love of science. Perhaps her favorite childhood memories were sitting at her father's feet watching _Cosmos_ with Carl Sagan. They owned a VHS box set, and whenever Cosima would pull them off the shelf, and bring them to her father, he couldn't help but indulge her.

But now that he was gone, everything was different. She moved far away from her friends and the city she loved to live with a religious fanatic. Her mother was different too; while her mother had always been religious, she was much more relaxed about it when they lived in San Fran, when her father was alive. It was just church once a week, and volunteer shifts at the soup kitchen. Cosima even enjoyed helping out there sometimes. It was nice to be a part of something good. But church now felt anything but good—mostly, it just felt like a list of all the ways she could be an abomination.

"Cosima?" came a small voice from just outside her room. Cosima opened the door to find her brother Mikey standing quietly against the opposite wall. She smiled at her brother, "Hey dude! How's it going?" He didn't smile back, "Aunt Jane says to be down in two minutes. She gets mad when you're late." Cosima was aware of this—it basically meant her Aunt Jane was always mad at her, because she was always late—but she saw the scared look on Mikey's face, and decided to try to hurry it up a bit. "Okay, I'm ready," she assured him, tying the bow in the back of the hideous pink dress, "Let's head down." Her brother smiled at her, relieved that there wouldn't be yelling today. Cosima took his hand, and together, they headed downstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

Beth walked into school, followed closely by her boyfriend, Paul. They'd gotten into an argument on the way to school about how she was frustrated because his emotionless demeanor made her feel like he didn't actually like her or want to be with her.

"No. Beth. I do want to be with you," responded Paul, stoically in a monotone. Beth rolled her eyes, responding, "This is what I mean. Can you manage a bit of enthusiasm? Please?" She stopped and looked Paul in the eyes. For a moment, she saw what she thought was a small smile, but it happened so fast that she was pretty sure it was just a twitch. She signed and turned away, walking over to her locker. Paul remained on her toes as she undid the lock, which Beth thought was a bit creepy. Could he give her a little privacy? As she opened the locker, a note dropped to the floor. She picked it up, and opened it:

"Meet after school in the lab."

"Who's that from?" ask Paul. At least, Beth assumed he was asking but honestly couldn't tell from his inflection. She quickly shoved it in her pocket. "No one," she said quickly, trying to act nonchalant as she threw her books into her bag. When she had closed her locker, Paul asked, "Who are you meeting after school?" Beth sighed, "None of your business. I'm going to class." With that, she scurried off in the other direction, leaving Paul staring stoically after her.

* * *

"Look, we have got to come up with a better system for notifying each other of clone club meetings," Beth burst out, as soon as Cosima had closed the door to the lab.

"I thought I said not to call it that!" snapped Alison, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Cosima looked a little hurt, "I thought the notes were a clever idea! I had to hack the school computer system to get your locker numbers, and I got here early so I wouldn't be seen." Beth took a deep breath and softened a bit, "Okay, it was a good idea, but my boyfriend saw the note, and he follows me everywhere, and I'm worried he'll find us. Plus, our lockers are subject to random searches at any time."

Sarah's eyes widened, "Oi! What the bloody hell! Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Beth shook her head, responding, "No, it's school property. They can do whatever they want." Sarah shook her head, "Well, I guess you would know, being one of those kiss ass hall monitors or whatever." Beth took a step toward her, trying to control her anger, "That's not fair, Sarah! You don't even know-"

"Hey guys, let's just drop it, okay?" interjected Cosima, who clearly wasn't a fan of conflict.

"Alright, well why did you call us here anyway, Geek Monkey?" quipped Sarah. Cosima headed over to her bookshelf, and pulled out a huge stack of books. "I've been geeking out over genetics for the last day," she said, lugging the books, which appeared to have been checked out of the public library, over to a table in front of them. "I'm trying to figure out how to examine our DNA—"

"Why do you need to do that? We don't know that we're clones or whatever yet," Alison interrupted. But Cosima just kept on talking, "See, there are a lot of different types of genetics tests. There's medical screenings for things like diseases and other genetic predispositions, there's forensic testing for identification, and there's the full genome, " Cosima explained, counting off the types of tests on her hand.

At this point, there were two strong knocks on the door. Everyone froze, except for Cosima, who jumped up and whispered, "Shit! You three, go stand in that corner behind that cabinet." Though none of the girls were particularly found of being ordered around, they did as she said and hid, sensing it was important to do so. Cosima went to the door, and opened it a crack.

"Hey Delphine!" she greeted the surprise guest. "I'm kind of in the middle of a huge project right now, can we meet a bit later?"

"Can I help?" responded Delphine. She was a tall girl with wavy blonde hair and a thick French accent. She leaned forward to peak around the corner at this "project" but Cosima blocked her from entering. With a giggle as an attempt to maintain her casual, relaxed demeanor, Cosima answered, "Um, well, I just don't think it's at that point yet, you know?" Sensing Delphine's disappointment, she leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips. "We'll hang out later, I promise? Meet me at our spot, in an hour?" Delphine ran her fingers through Cosima's dreads, "Oui. I will be there." She leaned in and kissed Cosima, who wrapped her arms around her neck. Cosima wanted to continue the kiss forever, but remembering her three identicals hiding in the corner, she pulled away, and smiled, "See you soon," she said coyly, before shutting the door behind her.

Cosima turned back to the other three girls, who were coming out of the corner. "Where was I? Oh, the three tests—" Alison cut her off, "Who was that?!" Cosima smiled, "That's Delphine, my girlfriend. So, for our purposes, the med—"

Alison interrupted again, "Girlfriend? So, you're… well… you're… _that way_?"

Sarah slapped Alison on the back of the head, "Oi! What's it to you?"

Alison pursed her lips, "Well, if she's… you know… then we certainly aren't _clones, _because _I'm not_."

Cosima stepped in, "There's not proof that sexuality is genetic. It's a complex spectrum that could be the result of any number of influences." She smirked at Alison, "So, you have nothing to worry about."

"So, the genetic tests?" Beth provided, ready to move on from this tangent and get to the point.

"Right! So, obviously, a full genome is preferable, more to study, more to learn! But that's not really something I'm capable of doing right now. Though hopefully one day, I'll have access to a real lab at a big university where I can study whatever I want. And medical testing doesn't make sense, since there's not any evidence at this time that we have any genetic illnesses." She had been gesturing wildly when talking about these different methods with her hands, but now, she stopped, splaying her hands wider for dramatic effect, "That means what's left is forensics."

Sarah threw her hands up and began pacing, "So, you got the equipment to run forensic tests now?" She demanded. Cosima paused, "Well, no, but it made me think about other tests we could do—"

"I have access to forensic equipment," said Beth quietly. All three clones stopped, and turned to her, "Wait…what?"

Beth shrugged, "Well, sort of. My dad's a cop, and he knows that I want to be one too, so he takes me to the station, and lets me shadow him sometimes. So, I know my way around," she hesitated, and looked around, as if looking to see if anyone was listening in, before continuing, "And I also know his password to access the police database and DNA testing."

Cosima, at this point, looked like she could burst from excitement, and exclaimed, "Beth, that's perfect!" But Sarah wasn't so sure, "But aren't police stations open 24 hours?" She inquired cautiously, "We wouldn't have a chance to sneak in unnoticed." Beth shook her head, "Yeah, the station's open 24 hours a day, but the lab isn't. And that's where we'd have to get to in order to run the DNA test anyway."

At this point, Alison's eyes about bulged out of her skull, and she hissed, "Are you both actually suggesting we break into a _police station_? That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard! _We could go to jail_." As much as Sarah hated to admit it, the uptight cheer bitch was right; it was an epically stupid idea, especially for someone already on probation. But it's not as if epically stupid had stopped her in the past.

Cosima also knew Alison was right, but her curiosity was too overwhelming to abandon the idea. "Okay, well. How about this. As far as alternative tests I was going to mention before, I was thinking we could see if our blood type and fingerprints match. Blood type will tell us if it's possible we're related, and fingerprints, well, only monozygotic twins have matching prints. So, we do those tests, and if either of those turn out negative, we'll postpone this police-lab-DNA-quest."

Sarah and Beth hesitated, but eventually agreed to the plan. Alison dug her feet in, declaring that there was no way she would sneak into a police station, under any circumstances, but finally agreed to at let Cosima test her blood samples and fingerprints. They were about to leave, when Sarah motioned for them to hold up, "Well, if we're really serious about figuring all this out, then Beth's right. We need a better way to contact each other." They all considered, until Beth said, "Okay, I have an idea. We'll meet here same time tomorrow, okay? I'll see if I can get it together by then."

"What's the bright idea?" Sarah asked. Beth calmly stated, "I'll tell you tomorrow." Sarah rolled her eyes, but nodded. Clearly, she had underestimated Beth; she may be a "kiss-ass hall monitor," if she was willing to help them sneak into a forensics lab to test their DNA, she was clearly committed to this, whatever it was. Sarah headed for the door, "Whatever. I'll see you freaks tomorrow." She swung the door open before Alison could protest being called a freak, just in time to see a poof of blond hair disappearing around the corner.


	5. Chapter 5

Beth sat beside her father in the car at 5:15am. She could see, in the distance, a faint pink at the bottom of the sky; the sun would be rising soon. "It's been a while since I've driven you to school, " said her father, breaking the silence. It was true. Ever since her father started taking the early morning shifts, it had been her mother who drove her. Beth felt guilty about this, as she suspected that the reason her father was taking those early shifts was so he wouldn't have to speak with her mother in the morning. Though they didn't talk to her about it, Beth knew her parent's marriage was falling apart, and riding to school with her mom felt like picking sides.

"Yeah," Beth responded, "Well, I wanted to spend some time this morning studying for my history test, and I figured it'd be nice to ride to school with you. Like old times." She turned and smiled at her father, who beamed back at her, briefly leaning over and squeezing her knee. Though the part about studying for her exam was a lie, Beth did genuinely enjoy getting to spend time with her father. He had been spending less and less time at home.

"Hey do you think I could shadow you at the station some time soon?" Beth inquired. Her Dad looked surprised, "Sure, kiddo! It's been a long time since you've wanted to do that. You're so busy now days." Beth shrank in her seat with guilt, "Yeah, school's hard. You know, junior year's a killer. But yeah, I'd love to come by some time." Her Dad nodded, "Alright, how about next week after school some time?" Beth thought through her schedule, "Thursday work?"

"Yep!" cheered her Dad, not trying to hide his excitement. "Next Thursday it is!" He pulled up next to the school. "Well, here's your stop," he remarked, and Beth could feel that he was sad that the ride was over. She was a little sad too, as she grabbed her backpack and opened the door. Her father leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, "I love you, kiddo." Beth smiled, "Love you too, Dad."

Beth closed the car door, waved good bye, and walked into the school. She glanced at her watch. 5:37am. She knew that security usually got there around 6am, and administrators at around 6:30, so she had to move fast. She swiftly slipped in through a side door, which, for whatever reason, was always unlocked. She scurried down the hall to the dean's office. It was locked, but as a student hall monitor, she was one of those trusted few students with a key. She guiltily considered that what she was about to do suggested that their trust had been misplaced, but unlocked the office door anyway, quickly slipping inside and locking it behind her. She dug a flashlight out of her pocket, clicked it on, and began her search. She knew confiscated items were in one of the filing cabinets, so she yanked open the heavy metal drawers one by one, wincing at the loud screeches they made as they tumbled open and shut.

Finally, she found what she was looking for: all the items that had been confiscated this year. She opened the drawer all the way, knowing that the items in the back of the drawer would be those confiscated earlier in the year, and it was less likely that those would be claimed. She sifted through the all the miscellaneous contraband—pocket knives, CD players, make-up, decks of cards, until there, in the back of the drawer, she saw them. Four beat up Nokia cell phones. In the year 2000, the only kids bringing cell phones to school were rich kids whose parents would just buy them new ones, and drug dealers who couldn't ask their parents to come retrieve it for them. By the state of these, Beth suspected it was the later.

Shoving the four phones into the bottom of her backpack, she quickly closed the drawer, and made her way out of the office, clicking off her flashlight as she left, and assuring the door was locked securely behind her.

* * *

Cosima waited under the bridge at 6:30am. Though she hated not being able to sleep in, leaving the house early almost guaranteed that she would avoid her Aunt. Plus, it was another opportunity to see Delphine, and she would take that over sleep any day. She smiled as she saw her girlfriend walking her way.

Delphine and Cosima had met the summer before—both were taking evolutionary biology at a community college. Cosima, having exhausted the science courses at her high school, was looking for more opportunities to learn, and Delphine needed the course to transfer to the biology department at the local University in the fall. They had started studying together, and eventually, started dating soon after that.

When Delphine reached her girlfriend, Cosima leaned in and greeted her with a long kiss. They finally pulled away, and Delphine smiled widely, "Bonjour Cosima." Cosima ran her fingers through Delphine's hair, "Bonjour." She knew her accent sucked, but her attempts at French made Delphine smile anyway. Delphine opened her backpack and pulled out a lunch box, "I brought us breakfast." Cosima reached into her messenger bag, "Well, I brought us a blanket for our breakfast picnic." She spread the red plaid blanket smoothly over the concrete.

Cosima wished they could sit in a nicer spot, somewhere without graffiti sprayed on the surrounding walls and litter covering the ground, but she couldn't risk meeting in a more open space where her mother or Aunt might come across them. Though they hadn't spoken about it specifically, Cosima was pretty sure that dating a girl would be on the never ending list of abominations from that crazy church they attended multiple times per week.

They sat together on the blanket, and Delphine opened the lunch box. She took out two carefully wrapped pastries that she had baked from scratch the night before, and set each on a napkin. Cosmia smiled gratefully—she wasn't exactly the best chef, and attempting to prepare food this early in the morning, quietly enough so as not to wake her family, would certainly be a struggle for her.

As they ate their breakfast, they held hands, exchanging kisses and stories from the previous evening. Delphine shared with Cosima the crazy new things she was learning in her biology classes, and her frustrations with her roommates, two boys who never did their dishes. Cosima told Delphine about the experiment she had lead for the AP biology class the day before, and complained once again about the awful dress she had to wear to church. Before she knew it, it was 7:45, and Cosima knew if she didn't start walking towards the school, she would be late.

"Let me walk with you," Delphine pleaded with her, as she did every morning. Cosima considered it, as she did every morning, but eventually shook her head, "It's too risky and you know it. If my mom or my Aunt, or anyone from their church for that matter, were to see us… it would ruin everything." Delphine nodded sadly. She knew Cosima was right, even though they both hated hiding. Cosima leaned in, kissing her girlfriend one last time, and whispering in her ear, "Meet me here this evening?" Delphine nodded, "Of course." Painfully, Cosima pried herself away from her girlfriend's embrace, and began the trudge to school.

While secretly dating a French college student might seem dreamy or romantic to many of her peers, Cosima would give anything to be able to hold hands with her girlfriend in the hallways of her school.


	6. Chapter 6

The "Clone Club," as they had all begun to jokingly call themselves (even Alison had eventually joined in), were all hanging out in the lab after school. Beth had given everyone their phones last week, and Cosima had figured out how to hack into a cell network so they could use them to communicate.

Cosima had tested all of their blood types; all four girls were type A. Honestly, none of them were all that surprised by that knowledge. Cosima had stashed the samples away in a box, where she was keeping all her notes on this new "project." Though Alison was somewhat freaked out by Cosima's need keep all their samples, Sarah understood. This, it seemed, was the way Cosima worked; she gathered all the information should could, whether it appeared relevant or not, and just kept collecting facts until the puzzle began to fit together.

Beth and Cosima were now standing at one of the tables, working together on analyzing the finger prints. It turns out that determining a print match with only a visual comparison was not as easy as Cosima had originally believed, but Beth seemed well versed in this matter. She had brought the spy kit she played with as a child, which included a book with markers to look for when examining prints.

While they worked, Sarah and Alison sat awkwardly together on the couch. Well, Alison was awkward, perched on the far corner with her hands neatly folded in her lap while Sarah sprawled out taking up the remaining space on the sofa, listening to her Walkman.

Alison cleared her throat, turned to Sarah, and, in a voice that was futilely trying to sound casual, asked, "So, Sarah? How what your day?" Sarah didn't respond, her head casually bobbing to the beat of the music blasting through her headphones. Alison cleared her throat louder, and when Sarah still didn't respond, Alison shoved her foot in frustration. Sarah, startled, pulled off her headphones and hollered, "Oi! What was that for?"

"Well, you weren't listening! You're music is way too loud! You know, it's rude to wear headphones when people are speaking to you," Alison snapped. Sarah took a deep breath, and responded, "Fine. I'm sorry, alright? What were you saying?" Alison sighed and tried once again to sound casual, "How was your day?"

Sarah looked bewildered, "How was… how was my… what?" She couldn't believe that Alison, who had spent the last week acting as if Sarah were a buzzing fly that she couldn't quite manage to squash, was suddenly asking how her day was? Alison's thinly held casual demeanor crumbled, and she groaned with frustration, "Sarah, I was trying to be pleasant!"

Sarah sat up, holding out her arms to calm Alison down, "Okay, you're right! I'm sorry!" She situated herself cross-legged on her side of the sofa, and pondered a response to Alison's question, "Good. My day was good. Yeah, uh, my brother Felix was cast in the play! He's in the chorus, but he still seems really excited, and I'm happy for him." Alison's face softened a bit, releasing some of the tightness it seemed to always hold, "I didn't know you had a brother." Sarah nodded, a genuine smile spreading across her face, "Yeah, Fe. He's a freshman. Two years younger than me." Alison had never seen Sarah speak of anyone with such fondness. She looked away, "I wish I had a brother. Or a sister. But my parents just had me," she paused, her eyes filling with tears, "If they're even my parents."

Sarah leaned closer to Alison, "Hey, listen here. They're your parents, alright? No matter what these tests say about you, about us, they raised you and they love you, so they're your parents." Alison turned to look at the punk, her eyes skeptical yet hopeful, and Sarah continued, "It's like, me, Fe, Mrs. S. We aren't connected by blood. We don't share DNA, but they're my family. Hell, Mrs. S took us both with her when she moved from London eight years ago. I didn't expect her too. Most foster parents don't do that sort of thing, but she said that we were her family and that was that."

Beth and Cosima had turned away from the fingerprints to listen to the conversation. "Sarah's right, Ali," Beth said gently, making her way over to the couch. She seemed to understand Alison better than the other two; Alison seemed a little calmer with Beth, even letting her call her by a nickname, which Cosima and Sarah sensed they wouldn't be allowed to do, yet. "When my parents told me I was adopted it didn't change a thing. We're still a family. Wasn't that how it was with you, Cosima?"

"Well, I never told them I knew," responded Cosima, suddenly seeming very preoccupied with the fingerprinting book once again, "But, when I found out, it didn't change a thing," Cosima answered nonchalantly. Beth smiled, and indicated to Alison that such was yet another example of how it wouldn't matter. But Sarah sensed the distance in Cosima's voice and demeanor, and suspected there was more to the story that she wasn't sharing. As Beth continued to comfort Alison, Cosima returned to analyzing the fingerprints, until she stopped, and abruptly turned to face the other three, a smile broadening across her face.

"I think we have a visual fingerprint match!" she practically squealed. Beth immediately went over to confirm the results, and Sarah couldn't help but smile about how excited Cosima was about this. Eventually turned to face the others, nodding to confirm Cosima's findings.

The four girls looked at each other. While they had known something strange was going on since they first met just over a week ago, matching fingerprints brought it to a whole new level. Clearly, they were all connected in some way. And they needed to find out more.

"So… what now?" Sarah asked softly, sounding hesitant for the first time since any of them had met her. There was a short silence, until Cosima responded, "Now we go for DNA." They nodded silently, even Alison.

"I'm going to shadow my dad at the station tomorrow after school. I'll see if I can look around the forensics lab, pay attention to where things are and how to use them," contributed Beth. The other three nodded, looking solemn, the gravity of what they were going to do suddenly heavier now that they were committed.

"But before we do this," Beth turned to Alison, "You've got to ask them, Ali." Cosima and Sarah both looked at Alison sympathetically. "I know," she whispered, "I'll ask them." Beth placed a hand on her shoulder, "Soon?" Alison, hesitated, but nodded, "Soon."

* * *

The next morning, Sarah and Felix were walking to school at around 7:45am. Felix was pulling her along, trying to get her to walk faster, "Sarah, we're going to be late! I don't want detention! I'm in the play, and I can't miss rehearsals." Sarah rolled her eyes, "Fe, relax, and follow me." She lead him around a different corner then they usually take, "It's a shortcut I discovered recently. We'll be there in five minutes. Tops."

They scurried through the back alley way, and around a corner. "See, the school is just up ahead!" Sarah gestured to Felix. They were about to head that way together, when Sarah saw Cosima under a bridge they were passing. She stopped, watching Cosima kiss her blonde girlfriend goodbye before heading toward the school. Looking at that blond hair, it took Sarah a moment before she finally recognized where she had seen it before.

"Sarah, come on!" Felix whined, holding out his pocket watch for her to read, "It's 7:53am!" Sarah was too distracted to tease him for carrying a fucking _pocket watch_ to school, and just said to him, distractedly, "You go on ahead, Fe. I'll see you later, alright?" Felix wasn't having it, "Sarah, what are you doing? You're gonna get in trouble!" But she just turned to him, and said, a bit more harshly than intended this time, "Fe, just go! I can take care of myself." Felix glared at her, clearly hurt by her hostility, before running off to school like a wounded puppy.

Sarah was internally kicking herself for talking to him like that, knowing that while he be sassy, her brother was really very sensitive. She made a deal with herself to buy him some ice cream after his play rehearsal to make up for it, and pursued the blonde, who was walking in the opposite direction.

She knew it was probably silly to go after her, but Sarah couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. She thought back to the day when she saw the blonde hair disappear around the corner, as if she had been listening at the door just moments before. Maybe Sarah was being paranoid, but it just didn't make sense. Cosima had told her to meet her an hour later. Why was she just hanging around?

Suddenly, the blonde girl (Delphine, was it?) stopped at the edge of the street, and Sarah darted behind a wall, so as not to be seen. She watched Delphine look up and down the street, until a fancy black car with dark, tinted windows pulled up to the sidewalk. A tall man, wearing a black suit and sunglasses got out of the car, and spoke to Delphine for a minute, until eventually, she climbed into the car and it pulled away from the curb, leaving Sarah watching on in even greater confusion.


	7. Chapter 7

Beth wandered into the police station the following afternoon. She had been there many times before, but today felt different. Today wasn't just about hanging out with her dad and the other cops; she had a mission.

"Howdy, Beth!" an older police officer at the front desk called to her. "Hi Officer Brodsky. How are you doing today?" He smiled and waved his hand, "Please. It's Jake. I'm doing well though." He gestured behind him, "Your dad's at his desk. You can head on back." Beth smiled, "Thanks Jake."

She headed over to her father's desk. When he saw her, he beamed and leapt up to meet her. "Hey kiddo!" he greeted her with a big hug, which she gratefully returned. "Hey Dad! So, how's everything going today? Anything exciting?" Her father shook his head, "Not today. I'm afraid it's a pretty boring day. Just paperwork mostly." Beth nodded; this is what she was hoping for, "Well, if you can afford to take a bit of time away from her paperwork, would you mind showing me around the forensics lab?" Beth's father raised his eyebrows, "What do you want to see in there?" he asked, perplexed but not suspicious. Beth shrugged, "I've probably been watching too many crime shows, but I just want to see what it's like, how it works, you know?" Her father nodded, "Well, you know me. I'm always looking for an excuse to avoid paperwork," he chuckled, wrapping his arm around his daughter's shoulders and leading her out of the office and down the hall.

When they had arrived at the lab (two right turns and a left from the main office, Beth noted), her father led her inside. It was a small room; there were some long tables in the center, some computers and equipment against the wall. "Well, this is it!" her father answered, "Not as glamorous as you were probably expecting, I'm afraid." Beth walked around the small room, when a young woman in a lab coat, probably in her mid twenties, walked in, "Can I help you, Detective Childs?" she asked politely. Beth's father jumped up from the chair where he had taken a seat just moment before, "Maggie! This is my daughter, Beth. She was hoping to look around the lab a bit. She's interested in forensics." Beth walked over to Maggie, who shook her hand, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Beth," Maggie responded, extending a hand for Beth to shake. Beth took the hand she's been offered, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

"So," asked Maggie, "What are you interested in learning about Beth?" Beth wrung her hands, pretending to consider this for a moment even though she knew exactly what she wanted to know, "Do you guys have a… one of those machines that runs DNA?" Maggie smiled proudly, "We do! In fact, we just updated this last month." She walked Beth over to the corner, where there was a fairly large, box-ish looking machine. "It doesn't look fancy, but it really is state of the art forensics equipment," Maggie boasted. Beth walked closer, "Could you possibly show me how it works?"

Maggie nodded, and walked to a drawer filled with test tubes. Looking closer, Beth noticed that there was what looked like a one sided Q-tip in each tube, with other side attached to the tube's rubber lid. Maggie explained how DNA was swabbed with the end of the Q-tip, and then deposited in a specific slot on the machine. Beth tried her best to remember all the buttons Maggie pressed, and how she navigated through the interface.

"And then, it prints out over here!" Maggie showed Beth the tray where the print would land, "There at the top shows where the alleles line up, but for our purposes, we usually just look to the bottom, where it shows whether or not it's a match." Beth nodded, trying her best to remember every detail. "Wow, that's really neat!" She finally responded, when she realized that Maggie and her father were looking to her expectantly.

"Well, we should probably be heading out," her father answered, "Paperwork to do. But do you have any other questions, Beth?" Beth nodded, "Yeah, just out of curiosity, what's the security like on this room?" Maggie looked at her warily, and Beth quickly jumbled through an explanation, "Well, you know, so many cases depend on this stuff. I was just wondering, you know?" Maggie shrugged, "The samples are locked up with evidence, not stored here. And I while the door is locked and armed, there isn't much else. Doesn't really need to be. It is located in a police station, after all, and someone would have to be pretty stupid to try to break in here don't you think?" They all laughed, while Beth tried to hide her anxiety.

* * *

Alison sat with her parents at the dinner table. Her mom had prepared a delicious meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It was Alison's favorite, but she found that she wasn't very hungry. She just pushed the food back and forth on her plate, nibbling at it every now and then. Her father was talking about a successful meeting he had with one of his clients that day; he ran some sort of financial management company, and while Alison didn't understand all the details of it, she knew it paid well, so these meetings were important.

Her mother then informed them both that they would be going to visit Alison's grandmother on Saturday for her birthday. Her Aunts and Uncles and Cousins would be there too. Alison thought of her mother's blonde siblings, with their mostly blonde spouses and kids. She looked at her brown hair, resting in a braid atop her shoulder.

"Am I adopted?" she blurted out. She was sure she had just cut her mother off, but she couldn't pay much attention to what either of her parents were saying anyway. Her parents both stopped eating, and stared at their daughter in stunned silence, "What?" her mother finally managed to get out. Alison cleared her throat, and asked again, "Am I adopted?"

Her father put down his silverware and leaned toward her, his face filled with shock, "Darling why would you ask such a thing?" He didn't seem angry, but his voice was filled with surprise. Alison shrugged, "I just, I don't know, I'm different from the rest of the family." Her mother, also reeling from her question, inquired, "How is that dear?"

Alison fumbled with her words. She couldn't tell them that is was because he had met three identical girls with matching fingerprints at school last week. "It's just, everyone in our family has blonde hair. Why is mine brown?" Her father laughed, "Is that all this is about? Honey, sometimes that happens. It's genetics. Something about dominant genes or something. But you don't need to worry!" Her mother smiled and took her hand, "Alison, I carried you for nine months. You are certainly _my daughter_."

Alison forced a smile, as her parents went back to their meals. She wished she were comforted by her parent's reassurances, but somehow, they just made her more worried. There had to be something they weren't telling her.


	8. Chapter 8

By the time Alison arrived at the lab after school, Cosima, Beth, and Sarah were already in the midst planning their break-in to the forensics lab. Beth had drawn a crude map of the police station, and they were using the pieces from Cosima's chess set to map out who would be where.

"Oh, also," Beth pulled out her backpack, and dug into a pocket at the bottom, pulling out a handful of test tubes with Q-tips inside of them. "I stole some of these form the lab when the tech had her back turned. They're for swabbing our DNA. I guess we can swab the inside of our mouths or something?" Cosima nodded, taking the test tubes from Beth, "Yeah, saliva will be a good measure of DNA."

Beth then turned to Alison, "How did it go, Ali? Did you talk to them?" Alison nodded, but didn't make eye contact with any of the other three. Staring at the ground, she mumbled, "They told me I wasn't adopted." The other three stood tensely, looking at each other quizzically. Like with Alison, this answer didn't give any of them any peace of mind. Before anyone could respond, Alison reached into her backpack, pulling out two ziplock bags, one with a piece of chewing gum labeled "mom" and one with a Kleenex labeled "dad." She placed them on the table, "Took these out of the trash last night, after my parents were done with them." Sarah jumped back, "Oi! Gross! What did ya do that for?" Alison closed her eyes, and continued, through gritted teeth, "I used gloves, so as not to contaminate the samples with my own DNA."

Cosima put it together first, "You… you want us to test your parent's DNA too?" Alison nodded curtly. Instantly, Beth wrapped Alison in a hug, and Sarah and Cosima were surprised when Alison returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around Beth's neck. When they pulled away, Beth held Alison's shoulders, and told her, "Ali, I'm so proud of you. It's going to be okay." After a moment, Alison finally looked up to meet Beth's eyes, and slowly nodded in acknowledgement.

* * *

They stayed after school in the lab every day the entire next week, plotting the break-in. The plan was to do it the following Monday night. Beth's dad was working, and she had convinced him to let her shadow him that night. They planned for every detail, everything that could possibly go wrong. They couldn't afford to get caught.

Friday afternoon, it was just Sarah and Cosima, going over the final details. Alison and Beth had already left—they were going to the store to pick out the supplies they needed, and were driving to a mall in the next city over, so they could just pretend they were twins and hopefully not run into anyone they knew. Cosima was reading everything she could about the DNA sequencing machine in the lab—Beth said she knew how to work it, but Cosima wanted to be prepared in case anything went wrong.

As the two girls sat at one of the tables working, Sarah decided to take advantage of this opportunity to find out more about Cosima's girlfriend. She had been concerned since she had followed her the week before. "So, how long have you been dating Delphine?" Sarah asked, trying to sound casual. Cosima smiled, one of those big goofy grins you get when you're in love. "Since the end of the summer. So almost 4 months." Sarah nodded, forcing a smile, as Cosima rambled on about meeting at a summer science class, about how Delphine was majoring in biology at a local university, and about how she had the softest blonde hair that kind of reminded her of a cocker spaniel. Sarah quickly realized that she would have to be more direct, "I saw you with her under that bridge one morning," she interjected into Cosima's verbose discussion about all things Delphine. Cosima's smile faltered slightly, "You did? I was hoping we wouldn't be seen there." Sarah shrugged, "I was just taking a short cut, I doubt most people see you. It's pretty out of the way." Cosima nodded, apparently comforted by that fact.

"As we were leaving, a saw Delphine walk in the other direction, and I followed her," Sarah continued. Cosima looked at her with confusion, "Why would you do that?" Sarah shrugged, "Look, I just had a weird feeling about her—"

"You don't even know her!" Cosima cut her off, beginning to sound angry. Sarah put up her arms, "Yeah, I know, I know. It was just a feeling, okay? But anyway, I followed her and then this car with dark tinted windows pulled up next to her, and this guy with a suit and dark glasses got out and talked to her, and then she got in and drove off." Sarah paused dramatically, and when Cosima didn't react, she continued, "I mean, Cos. Doesn't that sound weird to you?"

Cosima shook her head, "Sarah, she was probably just getting a ride to school. She goes to university across town. I mean, I know she usually takes the bus, but maybe she has a classmate who she was carpooling with?" Sarah sighed, frustrated by Cosima's naivety, "But how many university students ride cars like that? And wear full on suits to class?" Cosima shrugged, "I don't know, but—"

"Cos, doesn't it seem weird to you that this university student is dating some sixteen year old? I mean, doesn't it seem like maybe there's something else going on?" Sarah was met by silence. Cosima just glared at her, before getting up, and walking across the room, carrying her book with her to read on the couch. Sarah winced, and began to regret her words. Sure, this French girl seemed fishy to her, but she could tell by Cosima's monologue earlier that she really liked Delphine. And, Sarah thought guiltily, Cosima probably didn't get to talk about her girlfriend very often. So she walked over to join the geek on the couch, "Look Cos, that came out wrong. I'm sorry."

Cosima looked up from her reading. Her glare had softened but she was clearly still angry, "Look, Sarah. Delphine's my girlfriend, alright? I trust her." Sarah nodded, "Yeah, okay. You're right. I just don't want you to get hurt, okay? I care about you." Despite her anger, Cosima couldn't help but smile. She hadn't made a lot of friends since she moved, and it was nice to think that perhaps a friend was what Sarah was becoming. She closed her book, and took a deep breath, "Okay, I get it. I'll be careful. But give her a chance, you know?" Sarah nodded, "Okay, I will." Cosima checked her watch, "And speaking of careful, you better head out because Delphine's probs gonna be here in, like, ten minutes, and she, like, obvs can't see you."

Sarah rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but chuckle. "Whatever, have fun with your girlfriend. Do we need anything else before Monday?" Cosima thought briefly, "I don't think so. I think we're ready." Sarah sighed, "Well, ready as we're gonna be, anyway."

* * *

"When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his Invisibility Cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it: _Just in case._"

Cosima closed the book, turning to her little brother who was leaning against her with wide eyes, eager to hear more. "Well, that's all for tonight, dude," Cosima whispered gently. Mikey's face fell, "Please Cosima! Just one more chapter!" he pleaded. Cosima pulled him close to her, "Shhh…. You know you gotta keep your voice down, buddy," Cosima whispered nervously. She was pretty sure the sorcery was on the list of abominations from her Aunt's church. This was why she only read _Harry Potter_ to him by flashlight after her mother and Aunt believed them to be asleep.

Cosima ruffled her brother's hair, "We'll read more tomorrow." Slowly, she climbed out of Mikey's bed, careful not to make the mattress or floorboards creak. She then reached over and tucked him in, planting a kiss on his forehead, "Sweet dreams, Mikey."

"Goodnight Cosima," Mikey whispered, wrapping his arms around her neck. Cosima held him close to her for a moment, before letting go, standing up, and carefully making her way over to her closet. She slowly lifted the loose floorboard next to her dresser, and slipped the book inside.

She looked at the glowing clock sitting on her dresser. It was 9:45pm on Monday night; the night they had spent the last week planning for. She would meet Alison two blocks away from her house at 10:15. Cosima checked her pockets, making sure she had all the necessary supplies.

She watched her brother Mikey, waiting for his breathing to grow heavier. When he finally began to lightly snore, it was 10:10pm. She slowly pushed open her window, cringing as it squeaked. Cautiously, she lifted herself from her windowsill onto an over hanging tree branch, before climbing to the ground and running to meet Alison.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Just in case you don't know, the book Cosima's reading to Mikey is _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_ by J.K. Rowling. I obviously don't own Harry Potter (or Orphan Black, for that matter). Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

"Are we sure about this?" Alison whimpered as she, Cosima, and Sarah scampered quietly towards the back of the police station. Sarah rolled her eyes, "For the last time, Alison. We're gonna be fine. We've planned for everything, alright?" Alison nodded, as they finally arrived at the station, and began searching for the right door.

"Okay, this is it. This is the door," whispered Cosima, "Beth said she would try to meet us here by 11 to let us in. In the meantime, are we ready?" she asked Sarah and Alison. They both nodded; they were dressed in identical blue jeans, black turtlenecks, and headbands. Cosima wore all black, with her loose cargo pants packed with the supplies they needed. "What about you? You got everything?" asked Sarah. Cosima nodded, "It's all here. DNA over here," she tapped her right pocket, "Magnets, bobby pins, and flashlight over here." She tapped her left. She took a deep breath, "We're ready."

Just then, the door opened behind them, and Beth, who was wearing the same clothes as Sarah and Alison, quietly beckoned them inside. She turned to Alison, and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, reminded her, "You know the way, right?" Alison nodded in affirmation, "A right and two lefts," she said quietly; she had studied this all week. Beth nodded, "Yep, you've got this." Alison was about to walk off when Beth reached out a hand and stopped her, "Wait!" Beth whispered. Alison stopped, and Beth reached her hand up, tucking a stray bang of Alison's into the headband. "Okay, now you're ready." Alison inhaled nervously, and headed down the hall.

* * *

Walking down the long corridor, Alison turned right, then left, then left again, until she found herself in the office area. She looked around at the desks, most of them empty. Reading the placards on the desks, she searched for the one that read "Detective Childs," until suddenly, one of the two men in the station, who had seemed still and deep in concentration just a moment before, swiveled around and greeted her with a smile. Having studied his picture all week, Alison knew exactly who he was, "There you are! Come on over here, Beth! I made you some hot chocolate!"

Alison walked over to Detective Childs' desk, trying her best to channel the calm and grounded demeanor that Beth always carried, "Thanks Dad." She said, in the voice she and Beth had practiced together: lower than her own but higher than Sarah's. Beth's Dad smiled broadly, "No problem, kiddo! I know it's your favorite!" Alison forced a smile, and took a sip. Hot chocolate was a bit sweet for her taste, but she wasn't exactly in a position to request another beverage. After all, this was supposed to be her favorite. She took a deep breath and looked at the clock. She still had 55 minutes left to be Beth, and just hoped she wouldn't eff it up during that time.

* * *

Once Alison had rounded the corner, Beth led the other three to the forensics lab. "Okay, so according to Maggie, the door is armed," Beth stated. Sarah nodded, "Yeah, we've been over that all week. Can I have the flashlight, Cos?" Sarah whispered, and Cosima dug it out of her pocket and handed it over. Sarah shown it through the cracks all around the door, finally pausing at the upper corner, "There it is," she said, "Magnets?" Sarah held out her hand, and Cosima deposited two magnets inside of it. They were thin refrigerator magnets, the type that people give out for free to promote their businesses.

Sarah took the magnets and slid them around in the upper corner where she had shown the flashlight, until they finally stuck to something. "Okay, I think I've got it." Sarah whispered, "Cosima, you wanna pick the lock?" Cosima nodded, and took out the bobby pins. After poking around for a few minutes, she was able to turn the handle. She looked at Beth and Sarah, silently asking whether she should proceed. "Just do it, " whispered Beth, wincing in preparation. Cosima nodded, and pushed the door open.

There was no alarm, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. As she looked up, Cosima saw the two magnets sticking to either side of the metal sensors on either side of the door. "Sarah, you're a genius!" she exclaimed in a whisper-shout. Sarah rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, just go! We don't have much time!"

Cosima and Beth slipped inside the lab, closing the door behind them, while Sarah remained outside. Her job was to stand guard while the other two processed the DNA. She leaned casually against the door to the lab, trying to pretend for the others and for herself that what they were doing didn't absolutely terrify her.

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed without incident, and Sarah was almost beginning to relax. She could hear Beth and Cosima working inside—as useful as they were in the planning and preparation, they weren't the best when it came down to the actual execution. Sure, they were probably doing fine with the machine, but they didn't seem to get concept of _being fucking quiet_, especially Cosima. It wasn't that they were _loud _exactly, but Sarah could certainly hear their whispers through the door. Especially when Cosima tried to give Beth instructions on how to work the machine, to which Beth would snap back that _she _was the one who had actually _seen _it before, so maybe _she knew what she was doing_, thank you very much.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall snapped Sarah from any temporary state of calm she had been experiencing. She knocked twice on the door, the signal to Beth and Cosima that someone was coming, and thankfully, their voices stopped instantly. Sarah then stood up straight, just as a young security guard came wandering round the hallway.

"Beth!" he exclaimed, with a smile, quickening his pace to meet her, before wrapping her in a hug. "How have you been? It's been a long time." Sarah tried her best to return the smile, and responded, "Yeah, long time no see, how have you been?" She concentrated on the voice, trying to remember the instructions Cosima had given her: _higher than your own voice, lower mine, nix the British accent. _

The young man pulled away, and Sarah tried to take him in. He looked to be a couple years older than her, probably eighteen or nineteen. He had a blonde buzz cut, and looked pretty muscular. Her eyes quickly stumbled across his nametag: Steven. Sarah racked her brain, but was pretty sure Beth hadn't mentioned a Steven.

"I've been good," Steven responded casually, "Got this gig doing security a couple months ago. The hours suck, but the pay's pretty good. How about you?" Sarah nodded, "Visiting my Dad," she replied, her arms hanging awkwardly at her side as she anxiously shifted her weight from one foot to the next. _Shite, how does Beth stand? What do her arms do? _

Steven raised an eyebrow, "And just decided to take a side trip to the forensics lab?" Sarah laughed, playfully slapping him on the arm, "Oh, Steven… You know, I was just clearing my head a bit." Steven's eyes filled with concern, "Everything okay?" Sarah shrugged, and looked at her shoes. She didn't know what to do with the concern he was demonstrating. She was having an hard enough time pretending to be Beth for a casual acquaintance. Surely someone who really _knew_ Beth would see through this act in an instant.

He reached out and tilted her face up to his, "Beth, I know we lost touch, but if you ever need to talk, I'm around. Okay?" Sarah gently took Steven's hand, and responded, "Thanks… I think I just need some time alone, if that's alright." Steven stepped back, looking a little hurt by her dismissal, "Yeah. Yeah, totally. I'll leave you to it." He slowly turned, and walked down the hall. It wasn't until he rounded the corner that Sarah let herself breathe again, filled with a mixture of guilt and relief. She waited a few minutes to make sure he was really gone, then knocked once on the door to let the Beth and Cosima know the coast was clear.

* * *

Alison looked over at the clock. She had only seven minutes left. They had agreed on an hour. Would that be long enough? Even if it wasn't, she probably couldn't keep this up much longer anyway. Beth's father had already commented twice that she seemed a little tense, and she didn't know how long he would buy that it was just that history test happening tomorrow.

They had chatted a bit about Beth's classes and her friends. Beth had prepared her with stories from the day, and basic info on her close friends that she might need to carry on a conversation. Still, Alison was keeping her answers short. She didn't want to raise suspicion by not talking at all, but was more afraid of saying the complete wrong thing. But, for some reason it seemed that Beth's Dad was a little quiet too.

"Look, Beth…. I have something I've been meaning to tell you," Detective Childs said nervously. Alison froze. She could tell by his tone that this was a long anticipated conversation for him. He took a deep breath, and stated in a forced calm, "Your mother and I are separating."

Alison took a deep breath, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. Tears for the pain of her new friend, and tears of guilt that Beth wasn't here to have this conversation herself. Beth's father stumbled on, obviously a bit thrown off the by crying, about how he knew it might be a shock, about how they would still love her, about how it was up to her where she would live, about how they were still a family.

Alison stood abruptly, "Dad… I just, I need a minute. Can we talk about this… another time? Maybe not in the middle of the night?" Her father nodded sadly, "Of course, kiddo. Take the time you need." Alison nodded, and rushed down the hall, two minutes later than anticipated.

* * *

"Ali, hurry up!" Beth whispered urgently, finally seeing Alison rushing down the hall. "Sarah and Cosima are already outside. Cosima has our DNA results, but I have your parent's. Do you—"

"I'm not ready," snapped Alison, "Will you give them to me tomorrow morning? In front of school? Early?" Beth nodded, sensing Alison was upset about something besides the tests, "Sure. Like, 7am work?" Alison nodded, before rushing out the door to meet Sarah and Alison.

* * *

"I cannot believe we pulled that off!" cheered Cosima from the front seat of Alison's BMW. Sarah sat forward from her seat in the back and impatiently asked, "Yeah, yeah, so tell us already, Cos? What are the results?" Cosima nodded, "I guess Beth already knows, so… we're genetically identical!" Sarah leaned back in her seat, "Woah." Alison took in a sharp intake of breath, unsure of what to even say. Cosima beamed, unable to contain her glee, "Welcome to the trip, man."


	10. Chapter 10

It was past midnight when Sarah got home. A full two hours past her 10pm weeknight curfew. She slowly unlocked the front door, and slipped in, hoping against all odds that Mrs. S would already be asleep. As she slowly crept to the staircase, beginning to think maybe she had actually gotten away with it, she heard a voice from the corner of the living room, "It's past midnight, Sarah. " She froze, before slowly turning around and heading over to where Mrs. S was sitting. "Sit down," Siobhan stated, her voice even but forceful, pointing to the chair across from her.

Sarah slowly took her seat, "Look, I'm sorry Mrs. S, I lost track of time—"

"Bullshit," snapped Siobhan. Leaning in closer to Sarah, "Why don't you tell me what's really going on?"

Sarah shook her head, "I can't." She looked away, "But it's important, alright?"

Siobhan's gaze softened slightly, "Sarah, this is not only my weeknight curfew, but the one set by the state as terms of your probation. Chicken, if you get arrested again, there won't be much I can do to help you out of it."

Sarah nodded, a lump growing in her throat, "I know. Look, I'm sorry. I won't do it again, okay?"

Siobhan paused, and nodded, "Alright. Well, you're grounded for the next two weeks. Straight to school and back. And Sarah?" Sarah finally looked up, and Siobhan reach over and rested a hand on her knee, "If whatever this is that you won't tell me about gets out of hand, you've got to let me know. You hear?"

Sarah stood up, "Yeah, alright." She trudged up to bed. How could she even begin to explain to Mrs. S everything that was going on?

* * *

Beth waited outside the school at 6:57am, sitting on the edge of a low brick wall, the results of the DNA test for Alison's parents grasped tightly in her hands. The air was chilly, and she grasped her jacket tighter around her waist. Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Alison walking over to her from the lot where she had parked her car.

"Hey, " Beth said softly, as Alison took a seat next to her. Once she was seated, Alison hugged her backpack to her chest, "So, you have them?" She asked, her voice shaking slightly. Beth nodded, handing Alison the folded piece of paper, crinkled from being clutched so tightly in Beth's hands. Alison closed her eyes, holding the paper between her fingers, "I don't think I can do this." Beth scooted closer, "Ali, remember what I told you? It's going to be okay. That still stands, no matter what's in that paper." Alison looked up at her, surprised, "Haven't you seen it already?" Beth shook her head. "It was dark when I printed it out. I just grabbed it and folded it up. I figured, well, that you should be the first to know." Alison's shut her eyes, guiltily remembering what she had to tell Beth; that her parents were getting divorced, and her Dad had unwittingly told Alison instead of his own daughter. _Beth should have been the first to know that_.

Alison took a deep breath, opened her eyes and then unfolded the paper. Most of the page was filled with numbers and graphs she didn't understand, but her eyes quickly flew to the bottom, which read in bold: **Subjects not a match**_**. **_

Instantly, Alison's eyes filled with tears, and she covered her mouth to contain a sob. Beth immediately wrapped her arm around Ali's shoulder, running her fingers through her hair, "Hey, now. Remember what I said, it's going to be okay." Alison buried her face in her hands, choking back another sob, "I- I knew, deep down. I really did. B-b-but it just didn't feel real." Beth rubbed her back, "Sometimes you think you know something, but the reality can still come as a shock. There are some things you just can't prepare yourself for." Alison nodded, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, and shoving the results into her backpack.

"Beth, how… how did the rest of last night go? With your Dad?" Alison asked cautiously. Beth shrugged, "It was fine, I guess. He didn't seem suspicious or anything. Was a bit quiet though." Alison took a deep breath. Looks like the divorce hadn't come up. "Beth, when I was sitting with your father… pretending to be you, he told me something." Beth's scrunched with confusion, with a hint of worry, "What is it?" Alison forced herself to look Beth in the eyes, and said, in a voice uncharacteristically gentle for her personality, "Beth, he and your mom are separating."

Beth turned sharply away, looking out into the street. She chuckled to herself, but not in a happy way, "I mean, I knew it. It's been coming for a long time." She grasped the side of the wall tightly and bit her lip. Alison softly placed her hand over Beth's, "There are some things you can't prepare yourself for."

* * *

Cosima was dancing around her lab to a mix tape that Delphine had made for her. Sarah had brought over an old boom box so that they could listen to music while they schemed, but today, it was just Cosima. It almost seemed strange to have the lab all to herself again; she had grown accustomed to sharing it with the three other girls.

"Oh girls, they wanna have fu-un," she sang joyfully as she danced. She couldn't carry a tune to save her life, but that didn't stop her from belting along to the music, "Yeah, girls just wanna have fuuuuuunnnn!"

She heard two knocks on her door, and excitedly rushed over to answer it. Swinging the door open, Cosima threw her arms around Delphine's neck and kissed her passionately, before pulling her inside.

"You are listening to the tape, yes?" Delphine smiled shyly. Cosima nodded her head to the music, "Yep!" she affirmed, grabbing Delphine's hand and pulling her over to her rug to dance with her. Delphine laughed, "You seem to be very happy today, Cosima." Cosima shrugged, "Yeah, I suppose I am," she answered, spinning Delphine around before pulling her into an overly dramatic dip. "Woah, now, easy," Delphine cried through her giggles.

"Your glee…It doesn't have anything to do with that... what do you call it, 'top secret' project that you are working on?" Delphine asked. Cosima hadn't told her girlfriend about her genetic identicals yet. It wasn't that she didn't want to, she just didn't feel like it was the right time. She wanted clone club to be just theirs for a while longer. So, Cosima just smiled coyly, "Maybe. I did have a bit of a breakthrough yesterday." Delphine raised her eyebrows, "Oh? You tell me about it, oui?" Cosima shook her head, "Nice try, but not yet, okay?" Delphine sighed dramatically, but was still smiling, "Okay, if you insist."

The Cyndi Lauper anthem came to an end, and a new song began. A slower one this time, opening with a solo guitar. Delphine had moved to sit down on the couch, but Cosima took her hand and pulled her close. Once Cosima had wrapped her arms around Delphine's neck, Delphine grabbed her girlfriend's waist tightly, pulling their bodies together. As they swayed to the music, Cosima closed her eyes, listening to the words that Delphine had picked out just for her.

"_And I'd give up forever to touch you  
__Cause I know that you feel me somehow  
__You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be  
__And I don't wanna go home right now."_

Just then, Delphine leaned in closer to Cosima, so that her lips were up against her ear, and whispered, "_Je t'aime_." Cosima buried her head in Delphine's shoulder, planting a kiss on her neck. That was the first time Delphine had said that to her, the first time _anyone_ had told her they loved her, at least in a romantic sense. Reaching her head up to meet Delphine's ear, Cosima whispered back, "_I love you, too_."

This time it was Delphine who pulled Cosima into a kiss, leading her over to the couch as the kiss deepened. As Cosima leaned back into the sofa, Delphine's body pressed against hers as they kissed passionately, she thought that surely nothing could ever be more perfect than this. They were both so caught up in the intensity of the moment that they didn't notice the quiet click of a key turning in the locked door.

* * *

**A/N: **The songs featured at "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper and "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls. I don't own either of them. Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

The door slammed open, and Delphine and Cosima bolted upright in shock. Two men in white button downs, black slacks, and ties burst into the room, "What the fuck is going on here, you fucking dykes?!" The first man shouted with fury. His fists were balled in anger and his face was turning red. Cosima grabbed Delphine's hand in fear, as the man slowly approached the couch, violently shoving over two of the tables as he went. As he came closer, Cosima recognized him as one of the deans of the school.

"Niehaus right?" he asked Cosima through gritted teeth, his voice quiet yet vicious at the same time. She didn't answer; she was so scared she could barely breathe. She could feel herself shaking as her grip on Delphine's hand tightened. "ANSWER ME!" the man screamed lividly, and Cosima finally managed to sputter out, "Yes, Niehaus. Cosima Niehaus." The man scoffed, pacing back and forth on the small rug in front of the sofa. "You know," he glowered, "You've got some _nerve_, Niehaus. Stealing school property, breaking in here, and why? So you can fuck girls?!" Cosima leaned closer to Delphine as the man grew more aggressive.

"Please sir," said Delphine, barely above a whisper, wincing at a crash from across the room. The other man had been digging through the cabinets, shoving their contents onto the floor. Delphine continued bravely, her voice shaking, "We were only—"

"And who are you?" sneered the first man, stopping in front of the two quivering girls. "Leave her alone!" cried Cosima, "She's not even a student here!" The man raised his eyebrows, "Oh really?" He chuckled maliciously to himself, "In that case, you've got ten seconds to get the hell out of here before I have you arrested for trespassing."

Delphine grasped Cosima's hand tighter, and looked into her girlfriend's terrified eyes. How could she just leave?

Growing impatient, the man kicked over the bookshelf, sending the lava lamp sitting on top of it sailing to the floor, where it shattered, "I said GET OUT!" He shouted, violently pointing to the door. "Just go," Cosima whispered to Delphine, "I'll be alright. Just go." With one last desparate look at her girlfriend, Delphine dashed out of the room and up the stairs. Once she was gone, the man grabbed Cosima's arm forcefully and yanked her to her feet. "Now, you come with me," he growled, dragging her out of the lab. Cosima bit her tongue to suppress a cry from the pain radiating through her upper arm, a result of the hand tightly clamped around her arm. She took one last look at her lab before she was forced out the door, while the second man continued to vigorously empty the contents of the cabinets onto the floor.

* * *

Despite being grounded, Sarah had convinced Mrs. S to let her take Felix out for ice cream after dinner. She had already promised him, and didn't want to let her brother down. She'd have to take the trash out for a whole month, even when it wasn't her turn, but it was worth it. Between Felix's play and all of her scheming with the "Clone Club," they had barely seen each other for the last two weeks.

As they walked home together, Felix rambling on about the complicated dance number in the second act, Sarah looked over and saw a dreadlocked girl sitting under the bridge. She remembered seeing Cosima with Delphine there before school the week before, but this time, Cosima sat alone. Something about the way she hugged her backpack to her chest with her head downturned told Sarah that something was wrong.

"And then, this guy suggests that we take out the jazz hands, which is completely bonkers, amiright?" Felix laughed, but when he didn't hear even a chuckle in response from his sister, he looked back, noticing that she had stopped, and was looking across the bridge, "Sarah, are you even listening?" he complained. Sarah looked up, "Sorry, Fe. It's just… I'm just worried about a friend, alright? I'm gonna go check on her. Meet me at home?" Felix was about to protest, to remind her that it was _their _night, and Mrs. S had given her permission to hang out with _him_, but he sensed from Sarah's eyes that this was important. So he simply nodded, "Yeah, okay. But don't be too long." Sarah smiled gratefully, and ruffled his hair, "Thanks Fe."

As Felix walked away, Sarah slowly approached Cosima. When she got closer, she noticed tears quietly slipping down her face. "Hey, Cos? What's wrong?" Sarah asked quietly, slowly lowering herself next to Cosima on the sidewalk. Cosima wiped her eyes, and turned to Sarah. She didn't even know where to start.

Sarah gently placed a hand on Cosima's shoulder, "Cos?" She asked again, even quieter this time. Cosima shook her head, "Sarah, they… they found my lab." Sarah looked confused, "Who found, what—" Cosima cut her off, more harshly than intended, "Some people at the school, I don't know. I'm pretty sure one of them was the dean, or someone important, okay? Enough to get me in massive trouble." Cosima shook her head, her eyes cast toward her shoes, her hands grasping as she continued, "They just barged in and he _screamed _at us and they _destroyed _it. They…ruined everything." Sarah looked confused as she tried to follow the story, "Wait us…?" Cosima sighed, "Me and Delphine. She was there with me."

Sarah exhaled slowly, softly rubbing Cosima's back, "Cos, I'm sorry. We'll find you a new place, alright? We'll put it back together. We'll fix it—" Cosima jumped to her feet abruptly, "You can't! You can't fix it!" She cried in dismay, crossing her hands over her chest tightly, "Look, they called my mom." Sarah's heart sunk. She didn't know much about Cosima's parents, but judging by the way Cosima dodged questions about her family, Sarah could tell this story had taken at turn for the worst.

Cosima paced in front of Sarah, her voice beginning to quiver with distress, "They called her, and told her that they had found her daughter in a random room kissing a girl. And she told my Aunt." Cosima slowly sat down again, her head in her hands, trying with all her might to hold back her tears as she turned to Sarah, "And they kicked me out."

Sarah was shocked, she couldn't even find the words, "They… they what?"

'They kicked me out, Sarah! My Aunt told me that she couldn't have some sort of homosexual abomination living in her house, and that I had to go. She gave me fifteen minutes to pack my things; she even set a timer on the microwave. And my mom," Cosima took in a shaky breath, she had started to cry again. "My mom just _stood there_, she _stood there_, and she didn't even _say _anything." Cosima was now sobbing, and Sarah wrapped her in a hug, "Shhhh… it's okay, Cos. It's gonna be okay." Cosima pulled away and looked up at Sarah through her tear filled eyes. "But, I don't have anywhere to go," she choked out. It was just now that Sarah noticed a large duffle bag sitting next to her.

"You can come stay with me," Sarah stated, without even a moment's hesitation. Cosima looked confused, "But, your foster mom?" Sarah waved her concern aside, "She'll be fine," she stated again, with equal certainty. Mrs. S could seem strict, but her home was always open to those in need. Cosima still seemed unsure, "But Sarah, I mean, how will she react to the whole… clone thing?"

At that, Sarah burst out laughing, and despite everything, Cosima couldn't help but join in. It just felt so ridiculous! _Clones._

Sarah stood, threw Cosima's duffle onto her shoulder, and extended her hand to her genetic identical. After a moment, Cosima took the hand and let Sarah pull her to her feet. Together, they began the walk to Sarah's house.


	12. Chapter 12

It was getting dark by the time Sarah and Cosima arrived at Sarah's house. Slipping her key into the lock, Sarah didn't even have a chance to open the door before Mrs. S had yanked it open, glaring at Sarah lividly, "Where were you? I thought I said straight to get ice cream and back, but then Felix shows up alone, and—"

"S, listen, I—"

"No, you listen! We just talked about this last night! Sar—"

Suddenly, Siobhan went silent, and Sarah realized that she had managed to catch a glimpse of Cosima, who was standing anxiously at the edge of the doorstep. Sarah grimaced slightly; this wasn't exactly how she wanted Cosima to be welcomed into the home.

"Mrs. S, this is Cosima," Sarah muttered quietly, "She needs to stay here for a while." Despite her shock at seeing a girl who looked identical to her foster daughter, except for the glasses and dreadlocks, Siobhan knew that the first priority was to take care of the lost and frightened girl on her doorstep, "Well, come on in, Cosima. It's a pleasure to have you." Siobhan stepped aside so that the two girls could enter.

Once they were inside, they heard Felix bounding down the stairs, "Oi! Sarah, have you seen my—" he froze when he saw Cosima, his jaw dropping to the floor. Cosima awkwardly tried to smile at him before Sarah jumped in, "Yeah, Fe, this is Cosima. She's gonna be staying with as for a while." Felix nodded slowly, continuing to gawk at Cosima. Noticing her discomfort with his staring, Siobhan turned to Sarah. "Chicken, why don't you take Cosima upstairs and show her your room?" Sarah nodded, smiled toward Cosima and led her up the stairs.

The door to Sarah's room was emblazoned with signs that read "NO TRESPASSING" and "BEWARE OF DOG." Cosima imagined Sarah had stolen them from an uppity neighbor's gate as a preteen, and she grinned slightly in amusement at that thought. Sarah pushed the door open, revealing a room that was small, but bigger than the one Cosima shared with her brother. _Or used to share with her brother_, she thought with a sting of pain. The walls were plastered with posters of what Cosima assumed were punk bands. There was an unmade bed with black sheets and a red comforter in the far corner, a cluttered desk against the opposite wall, and clothes littering the hard wood floor. A nightstand next to the bed housed a small lamp, and a large boom box.

"Sorry 'bout the mess. If I knew you were coming. I woulda cleaned up a bit," Sarah muttered, as she tossed Cosima's duffle in the corner and hastily grabbed some of her clothes off the floor, tossing them into the hamper. Cosima shook her head, "Nah, don't worry. It's great." And she meant it. This room felt like Sarah, and Cosima found that comforting.

* * *

Alison was sitting at her desk, trying to concentrate on her Algebra homework. She had skipped cheerleading practice, told her coach she was sick. She knew that nobody on the squad believed her anymore, not after she had missed so many practices the week they were planning the break-in, but she just didn't think she could manage it today. She just didn't think she could manage to muster up a fake smile and scream out the letters of her school and talk to the other girls on the quad about which football players were the hottest. Not after learning the results of her DNA test. Beth told her that it wouldn't change a thing, but Alison couldn't help but feeling like nothing would ever be the same again.

"Alison! Dinner!" her mother called from downstairs. Alison didn't move and just continued trying to solve for x. Math had never been her strong suit, and distractions like clones and parents who had blatantly lied to her about being adopted didn't help. After a moment, she heard footsteps making their way up the stairs and her bedroom door flew open. "Could you please knock?" Alison hissed, not trying to hide her annoyance. Her mother pretended that she hadn't heard her daughter's peeved remark. "Dinner is ready downstairs, dear," she chirped. Alison bit her lip; she didn't know if she could sit through a meal with her parents, and wasn't ready to confront them about what she'd discovered, "Could I please eat up here? This math homework is very difficult, and I'd like to work on it further." Her mother shook her head, "You know the rules. We eat dinner as a family. Finish the problem you're working on and join us in the dining room, please." Her mother left, leaving the door ajar. Alison angrily threw her pencil down on her desk. _Right, family_.

* * *

Siobhan knocked on Sarah's door a few hours later. "Come in!" Sarah shouted, and Siobhan slowly pushed the door open. Sarah and Cosima were sitting together on Sarah's bed, working on their homework. Well, their books were both open, but it didn't look like they had actually gotten much done. Cosima seemed distracted by the events of the day, and Sarah, well, was Sarah and didn't exactly do a lot of homework anyway.

Siobhan walked over to the bed, a sleeping bag under one arm. "Cosima, are you sure you don't want anything to eat, love?" Cosima shook her head, "No, thanks. I'm not really hungry." She hadn't eaten since lunch, but her stomach had been in knots since her lab had been violently invaded. Siobhan nodded, deciding not to push it. She still didn't know why Cosima was staying in her house, but figured she would have plenty of time to find out. Tonight wasn't the night for those questions.

"Well," said Siobhan, "I brought down a sleeping bag from the attic." Cosima reached for it, but Sarah grabbed it first, "Cos, you take my bed tonight. I'll sleep on the couch." Cosima started to protest, "No, Sarah. I can take the couch. Really—" but Sarah shook her head, "No, you're our guest. Take the bed." Sensing that further objections would be met in the same way, Cosima just sighed and smiled weakly, "Thank you," she said softly. Sarah shook her head, "Don't mention it, alright? It's fine. Really."

Cosima nodded gratefully, and Sarah was already off her bed, searching through her drawers for some pajamas. Cosima slowly made her way over to her duffle bag, not looking forward to digging through everything that she had managed to stuff into it during those terrible, panicked fifteen minutes in hopes of maybe finding some PJs. But before she had even unzipped the bag, Sarah had tossed her an oversized T-shirt and some flannel bottoms. Cosima looked up at her, amazed at her intuition and unable to find the words necessary to thank her for this simple gesture. Sarah simply walked over to her, wrapped her in a quick hug, before pulling away, looking Cosima in the eyes and saying, "Like I said, don't mention it, alright?"

Cosima's eyes filled with tears, as Sarah left the room with her pajamas and the sleeping bag. Siobhan approached Cosima, and gently placed a kiss on the top of the young girl's head. "You need anything, love, don't hesitate to holler. My room's right down the hall," Siobhan instructed. Cosima nodded once again, "Thanks Mrs. S. For everything." Siobhan took the girl by the shoulders, "Like Sarah said, Chicken, don't mention it."

* * *

After setting up the sleeping bag on the couch downstairs, Sarah headed upstairs to brush her teeth. Just as she was about to turn into the bathroom, she noticed Felix's door was open. Looking inside, she saw him sitting at his desk, carefully painting his nails a shade of dark purple. Sarah walked closer, until she was standing in the doorway, just watching him as he painted and hummed the tune to one of the musical numbers from his play.

After a few minutes, Felix looked up and saw Sarah standing there, watching him. "What?" he asked. Then looking down at his nails, he rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration, "I'm gonna take it off before school tomorrow. You don't have to worry." Sarah was momentarily surprised that her brother assumed she was there simply to criticize his nail polish, until she remembered with a twinge of guilt that she had in fact done exactly that only a week before.

"Leave it, Fe," she commanded, softly but surely. Felix looked at her in confusion, "What? But you said—" Sarah cut him off harshly, "Look I know what I said! But now I'm sayin' leave it, alright?" Felix continued to look up at her in shock, like he couldn't tell if she was mad at him or not. Sarah groaned and stepped into his room, plopping herself down on his unmade bed. "Felix," she said, this time more gently, "I was worried about you, alright? I was worried people would hurt you. But I've reconsidered. I think if you want to wear that to school, then you should bloody well wear it to school." She smiled and reached over to her brother, messing his hair gently, "And if anyone fucks with you, I'll kick their ass, ya hear?"

Felix laughed and nodded, looking down awkwardly. He didn't know what to say. The siblings weren't used to expressing affection for each other, at least not in overt terms. Sarah recognized this, and stood to leave, "I'll leave you to you're painting." She had almost reached the door, when she turned and looked back at her brother. "I love you, Fe," Felix looked up at his sister, a small smile making its way across his face. "I know," he said softly, "I love you, too."

Sarah grinned back made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Her brother might get shit at school for his queer mannerisms, but he sure as hell wasn't going to get any from his family. Not anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

The alarm Sarah had set on her clone phone went off at 2:45am. She turned it off quickly, praying it hadn't woken anyone else. Quietly, she pulled on her jacket over her pajamas, slipped on her boots, and swiftly headed for the door. She had just begun to turn the doorknob when a voice rang out sharply behind her, quiet yet clear, "Hold it right there."

Sarah froze, and turned to face Siobhan. She took a deep breath, and started her explanation, "Mrs. S, I know this doesn't look good—"

"It certainly does not," Siobhan cut her off, approaching her slowly, but Sarah continued anyway, "Please, Mrs. S. I just have something to do tonight. It's for Cosima." Siobhan sighed in frustration, "Sarah, what is so bloody urgent that it can't wait until morning?"

Sarah looked down, trying to find a way to explain quickly. Finally, she turned her head up, pleading, "I know I haven't given you reason to trust me, but I promise, tomorrow morning I'll explain everything. Everything."

Siobhan pondered for a long moment with pursed lips, before finally responding, "Tomorrow morning, you tell me _everything_. Is that clear?" Sarah nodded gratefully, "Thank you, Mrs. S." And then she ran out the door before Siobhan had a chance to change her mind.

* * *

Sarah practically ran to the school, to the gate on the west side that was always unlocked. She quickly slipped inside, heading silently to the science building and down the staircase. When she arrived at the lab, she was surprised to hear other voices coming from inside. Her heart stopped. Creeping closer, she pressed her ear to the door, trying to make out the voices, when the door unexpectedly swung open and she stumbled inside. Her eyes darted up, and she was surprised to see Beth and Alison were already there.

"There you are! You know, if you tell someone to arrive at 3am, it's best not to be late," Alison snapped. Sarah looked at the girls in bewilderment, "I didn't think you two were coming," she answered finally. "Why wouldn't we come?" challenged Beth. Sarah shrugged, "I mean, I called you at bloody midnight and left messages. I wasn't sure you would get them." Beth and Alison looked at each other; between Beth's news that her parents were separating and Alison's discovery of her parent's lie concerning her adoption, neither of them had exactly been sleeping anyway. But neither wanted to talk about those things.

It was Beth who finally responded, "Well, I just feel bad, you know? About Cosima getting kicked out and all. I wanted to help." Alison nodded in agreement, "Me too," she added. Though it seemed that the dreadlocked geek caused her nothing by annoyance, Alison had somehow come to care for Cosima anyway.

Sarah nodded, "Alright then. Let's get too it." They began to look through the cabinets, trying to find equipment that hadn't been broken in the tirade, or at least things that had the potential to be repaired. They gathered the books from her toppled bookshelf, and sorted through the slides and test tubes on the floor, searching for ones that hadn't been shattered.

They worked quietly for a while, until Beth broke the silence, "It just… it doesn't make sense." Alison and Sarah paused, and looked up at her, "What do ya mean by that?" inquired Sarah, placing some of the intact test tubes into a ziplock bag she had found in the cabinet. Beth seemed deep in thought, trying to piece together what she was thinking, "I mean, what Cosima described to you? The yelling? The violence? I hate to admit it, but I could see some of our deans doing that. Entitled, arrogant bastards some of them are," Beth responded, with more venom than either Sarah or Alison had expected from the hall monitor. Sure, Beth had broken some rules in the past couple of weeks to help them, but she still trusted authority, still worked within the system.

But Beth continued, "But the destruction? That's what doesn't add up. I mean, why would they want to destroy school property? And destroy it so _thoroughly_. This isn't just some random kick out of anger. Practically everything that was in those cabinets is now shattered on the floor. _Why_ would they do that?"

Sarah shook her head, angrily stomping a cracked glass slide to dust beneath her boot. "Entitled, arrogant bastards is right," Sarah muttered to herself, "_Fucking bastards_." Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Alison bite her lower lip, as if holding back rage, and Sarah couldn't tell if she was upset about the bastards or the cursing, but decided not the mention it.

The three continued working, placing everything they could come up with into a cardboard box that Beth had thought to grab from her attic. They carefully filled the box with Cosima's books, some slides, test tubes, notebooks, a microscope that looked a bit worse for wear but they suspected still worked. "Well," said Beth, looking around the room, "I think that's all we can save."

Sarah walked around the room's periphery, searching for anything else they could salvage, anything else that might mean something to Cosima if they brought it back. She stumbled across the broken lava lamp, shattered next to the couch. The blue and green goop or whatever it was inside of it had spilled onto the rug, melting its edges into the floor. The sight of it sent a pang of sadness through her veins as she remembered the proud smile Cosima wore when she showed it to her that first day. "She loved that lava lamp," Sarah uttered softly. "What'd they have to go and break it for, huh? It wasn't hurtin' them."

Alison watched Sarah pick up the base of the lava lamp, examining it before tossing it back on the ground. "You know," Alison suggested thoughtfully, her hand stroking her cheek, "I might be able to help with that."

* * *

Cosima sat on Sarah's bed, knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them, staring blankly in front of her. She had barely slept. She just kept hearing the events of the previous day, over and over again. The screaming of the men, the shattering of her lava lamp on the ground, the click of Delphine's shoes as she ran from the room, the beep of the timer that her Aunt had set while she packed. Eventually, she had given up on trying to sleep, and just sat here instead, gazing into the empty space, and occasionally glancing over at the clock on Sarah's nightstand. It now read 6:42am.

Just then, Cosima heard a quiet knock on the door. "Come in," she called softly. The door opened, and Sarah entered, followed, to Cosima's surprise, by Beth and Alison. "How did you sleep?" asked Sarah, sitting on her bed next to Cosima, while Beth and Alison hesitantly lingered nearby. Cosima shrugged, "I didn't really. Just a lot on my mind. The bed was comfy though," she added, not wanting Sarah to think she was ungrateful for her sacrifice. She looked to Beth and Alison, "You can sit down, if you want, " she offered, "What are the two of you doing here?"

Beth climbed onto the bed, leaning her back against the wall, "Sarah told us what happened. We just wanted to see how you were doing." Alison was still hovering near the edge of the bed, not quite knowing what to do. But Cosima smiled at her anyway. It was then that she noticed Alison was carrying a brown, cardboard box, "What's in the box?" Cosima asked curiously.

Alison stepped forward, and placed it on the bed in front of Cosima, whose eyes widened when she looked inside. "We went to the lab last night," Sarah explained, "We weren't able to … well, this was what we could bring you. But we wanted you to have it." Cosima cautiously reached into the box, pulling out her books, assorted lab supplies, even her microscope. And in the corner, she saw a pink and orange lava lamp, which she gently lifted from the box, her eyes filling with tears, "I… but… they broke mine. How did—"

"It's mine," provided Alison, "Or it _was _mine. But I want you to have it. I know it's not the right color, but—"

"It's perfect," Cosima stated, her voice cracking slightly as she looked up at Alison, "Thank you." She looked to Beth and Sarah, "Thank you. I… I don't even know what do say."

"Jesus Christ, Cosima. We've been over this. _Don't mention it,_" Sarah responded with mock frustration, playfully nudging Cosima on the shoulder. Beth nodded, and gently rubbed Cosima's arm, "We just wanted you to know that… that we're looking out for you."

Cosima wiped her eyes, and with a small giggle, pulled Sarah and Beth into a hug. "Oi! Whatcha doin' there?" Sarah hollered, but she didn't pull away. "Get in here, Alison!" laughed Cosima, beckoning Alison over. Alison huffed and rolled her eyes, but joined the other three on the bed, wrapping an arm around Beth and placing her hand on Cosima's knee.

Cosima sat marveling at the girls sitting on the bed with her. They may have been her genetic identicals her entire life, but it was in that moment that they really began to feel like her sisters.


	14. Chapter 14

"Breakfast!" Siobhan called upstairs. It was a little after 7am, and she was in the kitchen making pancakes and eggs. She usually just set the cereal out for the kids, but she wanted to make Cosima feel welcome. Though she still didn't know what was going on, she worried about the girl. Plus, she heard Sarah slip back in a little after 6:30, and figured she would probably enjoy a nice breakfast too after whatever she did in the early hours of the morning. As frustrating as the girl could be, Siobhan knew Sarah was trying, and genuinely believed, perhaps against her better judgment, that the late night excursion was to help her friend.

Felix stumbled down the stairs first, "Oooh, pancakes!" he exclaimed, plopping himself down at the table. Siobhan smiled, "Yeah, I thought we'd do breakfast right this morning. Will you get the girls, chicken?" Felix shrugged, "Sure." He turned toward the staircase and hollered, "SARAH! BREAKFAST!" Siobhan rolled her eyes and sighed with annoyance, "Well, I could've done that." She fixed Felix a plate with two pancakes, and some scrambled eggs and slid it across the table to him. "Can I have the syrup?" he asked, but when Siobhan fixed him with an exasperated look, he jumped to his feet and headed to the pantry, "Right. I'll get it myself."

Siobhan was just about to head upstairs to fetch the girls, when she heard footsteps creaking down the staircase. As the footsteps entered the room, she inquired, "Okay, do you girls want two pancakes or three?" She looked up from the griddle, and froze at the sight before her.

Standing in the kitchen next to Sarah and Cosima were two other girls, who also both looked identical to her foster daughter. The four girls just stood, quickly glancing from Siobhan to each other, unsure of what to do next. Cosima twisted her hands anxiously. The girl next to her, with bangs and her hair in a tight ponytail, had her arms crossed over her chest tightly. The other had her hands clasped behind her back, and a hesitant smile on her face, as if to say, "Surprise?" It was Sarah who finally spoke up.

"Uh, Mrs. S, this is Beth and Alison," she muttered, pointing to the girls next to her. "Bloody hell," whispered Felix, his eyes bulging, the plastic bottle of syrup slipping from his hands onto the floor. Siobhan took a deep breath, "Well, think we're gonna need more pancakes," she stated, indicating for the girls to join Felix at the table, as she reached into the cupboard and pulled out two additional plates.

* * *

"So… you're genetically identical, then?" Siobhan asked in bewilderment. Sarah nodded, "That's what the DNA says," Siobhan covered her eyes and shook her head. She still didn't even want to _think _about these four girls breaking into the police station, though she had to admit that she might have done the same thing if she were in their predicament.

"Do any of your parents know about this?" Beth and Alison shook their heads, and Cosima just looked away, not wanting to think about her parents just yet. "Please don't tell them," Alison whispered. She hadn't even talked to her parents about finding out she was adopted yet, and she didn't know how they would react. Siobhan pursed her lips; it seemed a mighty big secret to keep from these girls' parents, but she didn't know how to proceed.

"I won't tell your parents," Siobhan finally answered, "Not yet, anyway. But you girls have to keep me in the loop on this stuff in the future. I don't want you breaking any more laws." She crossed her arms over her chest, and looked at the four girls sternly. They nodded, not wanting to make eye contact with her. "Sorry, Mrs. S," Sarah muttered, cautiously looking up at her foster mom. Siobhan's eyes softened, "Look, chicken. I know this was overwhelming and you didn't know what to do. But from now on, I need you to trust me. Trust that I can help you."

She looked at the four girls sitting at her table, and Felix sitting at the end, quietly gawking at their similarities. It was striking, not only how alike, but how _different_ these girls were from each other. She could tell just from their mannerisms, the way they carried themselves. The way Alison sat straight and stiff, her hands rubbing against her face whenever her arms weren't crossed tightly over her body. The way Cosima's hands were constantly moving, whether she was holding something or not.

Her eyes landed on Cosima, who had only eaten half a pancake and a few bites of eggs. The girl looked absolutely exhausted, the way she supported her head with her left hand while twirling her fork with her right. "Cosima? Did you sleep at all last night?" Siobhan asked. Cosima looked up, startled by the attention suddenly directed her way. She shrugged, "Yeah, a little," she lied. Siobhan took her plate, "Why don't you head back upstairs and try to get some sleep, love? Take the day off." Cosima hesitated briefly. She hadn't missed a day of school since she got the stomach flu in seventh grade. But she wasn't sure she even had the energy to climb up the stairs, let alone trudge through six classes, so she nodded, and slowly made her way to Sarah's room.

Siobhan turned to the other three, "The rest of you—off the school, or you'll be late," Siobhan said sternly. Sarah was going about to protest that _they _hadn't gotten much sleep either and should also get the day off, but when she met Mrs. S's eyes, she knew that now was not the time complain. "Thanks for breakfast, Mrs. S," Beth added graciously, taking her plate to the sink. "Yes, thank you," Alison contributed politely. Siobhan waved her hand, "Don't mention it. You girls are welcome here any time," she responded. Though perhaps it was irrational, when she looked at these girls, she couldn't help but see Sarah, and so she cared for them even though she didn't know them yet. The three girls and Felix grabbed their things and hustled out the door, closing it behind them. _Besides_, she figured, _If they're gonna be scheming, they may as well do it here, where I can keep an eye on them._

* * *

Alison pulled into her driveway just before 8am. She knew coming home first would make her late for school, but she didn't have any of her school books with her, and figured it would be worth it to slip inside and grab them. She thought about just ditching, but worried that the school would call home—they did that randomly—and didn't want to have to talk to her parents yet.

However, her hopes of avoiding her parents were dashed when she opened her front door and saw both parents sitting in the living room. They jumped to their feet the second she opened the door. Her mother instantly ran over and wrapped her in a hug, "Oh, I'm so grateful you're okay," she cried, squeezing her daughter tightly, before pushing her away and screaming, "Where on earth were you?"

"I just went out, Mom, that's all," Alison said defensively, and began to walk to her room, but her mother blocked the staircase, "You just went out?!" She shrieked. Her father stepped forward as well, "Alison, you didn't even leave a note! You had us worried sick!" he reprimanded. Alison huffed in frustration, refusing to look at them, "I'm sixteen years old. Can I not get some fresh air now and then without alerting someone of my absence?" she hissed in irritation, but her mother was not having it, 'We wake up to an empty bed, and you're nowhere to be found—"

But by this point, Alison had pushed passed them and rushed upstairs to her bedroom. She grabbed her backpack and began stuffing her books inside as her parents bounded up behind her, "We are not done with this young lady!" her mother screamed as she arrived at Alison's doorway. Her anger grew as Alison just continued to pack her backpack without even looking at her, "You know, we give you a certain amount of leeway but if we can't trust you, then we won't hesitate to take it away!"

_Trust_. Alison couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Don't talk to me about trust," Alison seethed under her breath. "Excuse me?" demanded her mother. But Alison couldn't take it anymore. She reached into her backpack, pulling out the crumpled results of the DNA test, and thrusting it toward her mother. "YOU LIED," she screamed, her fury finally bubbling over.

Her mother was taken aback by her anger, "Alison, what's this—"

"YOU LIED! YOU AREN'T MY PARENTS! YOU LIED TO ME MY WHOLE LIFE," she shouted, tears forming in her eyes. Her mother stood baffled, and her father slowly approached from down the hall, "Alison what are you talking about?" he asked in frustration. Alison threw up her hands in rage, "Don't act like you don't know! I took a DNA test. _We're not genetically related_."

Alison's parent's stood dumbfounded staring at the results Alison had given them, and Alison took their bewilderment as an opportunity to grab her backpack and barge out the door to school. She would deal with the fallout later.


	15. Chapter 15

Cosima awoke to sun rays streaming in between the blinds of the westward facing house. She rolled over, and smiled at the warm glow of the lava lamp sitting on Sarah's bedside. Next to it, the clock read 1:05pm, which meant that she'd managed to sleep nearly five hours. She certainly wasn't caught up, but she did feel a lot better. As she sat up, Cosima felt her stomach growl, and realized that the only thing she had eaten in the last 24 hours was half a pancake and two bites of eggs. Still clad in Sarah's flannel pajama bottoms, she made her way down the stairs into the kitchen.

Siobhan was sitting at the kitchen table, typing away on a bulky laptop. When Cosima entered the room, she looked up from her work and smiled, "Good afternoon, Chicken. Did you get some sleep?" Cosima nodded, "Yeah, I did. I feel a lot better." Siobhan closed the laptop, "Glad to hear it. Sit down, I'll get you some lunch. How does a grilled cheese sandwich sound?" she asked, opening the fridge and pulling out some cheese and butter. Cosima took a seat at the table, "That sound great!" Like most humans, she loved grilled cheese sandwiches. It was the perfect comfort food.

The two were silent for a moment, Cosima sitting at the end of the table and Siobhan grilling the sandwich, until Cosima asked, "What were you working on? On the computer just now?" Siobhan looked over at her laptop, "I mostly work from home. Tech stuff for a big company. I'm sure it'd bore you." Cosima didn't respond; she was sure that it wouldn't bore her, as she was a bit of a geek (okay, a lot of a geek), but she sensed from Siobhan's tone that she didn't want to discuss it.

In a few minutes, the sandwich was finished, and Siobhan brought it over to Cosima on a plate with some baby carrots. "Thank you," said Cosima, promptly picking up the sandwich and taking a bite. Siobhan took a seat across the table from the teenage girl, watching her eat for a moment. When Cosima had finished the first half of the sandwich and was starting in on the carrots, Siobhan asked gently, "So, would you like to tell me what happened?"

Cosima put down the carrot she had just bitten into, slowly chewing her food as she stared at her plate. Siobhan waited patiently until Cosima finally looked up, and replied, "So, you know how Sarah kept on talking about the 'lab' this morning?" Siobhan nodded, and waited for Cosima to continue. "Well, " Cosima explained, "That was my space, and I hung out there, even when we weren't… when we weren't planning." She looked away, knowing that talking about the break in to the police station had troubled Siobhan earlier. The last thing Cosima wanted was to upset her, especially after she had been so kind.

"Yesterday afternoon, I was there with my girlfriend Delphine," Cosima paused, thinking about her girlfriend. She wouldn't blame Delphine if she never wanted to speak to her again after what had happened. "We were… making out," Cosima began to play awkwardly with her hands; this wasn't the type of thing she wanted to discuss with adults, but she figured she owed Siobhan the truth, and couldn't think of a way to piece together the story without this detail. "Then this dean from the school barged in and caught us." Cosima blinked her eyes, trying not to think too hard about that moment. "So, he called my mom. And my mom told my Aunt, and she's like, this religious freak, and so she kicked me out."

She finished abruptly, and uncomfortably looked down at her lap. She was too afraid to look up at Siobhan, afraid that she'd look up to see horror and disgust in her eyes, afraid that she would once again be thrown out, and this time, she would really have nowhere to go. When she got no response from Siobhan, Cosima brought her fists to her forehead in frustration, "I'm so _stupid_! I should've, I just—"

"No," Siobhan interrupted steadily, getting to her feet and walking around the table, placing a hand on Cosima's shoulder as she took a seat next her, "Cosima, you did nothing wrong." Siobhan continued, and Cosima slowly looked up to see her, surprised by the kindness in her eyes. The young girl shook her head in confusion, "But, I mean, I wasn't supposed to be in that room and—" But Siobhan just cut her off again, "Doesn't matter. You didn't deserve this." She pulled Cosima into a hug, rubbing circles in her back.

Cosima sat still in Siobhan's arms, reeling from her words. _You didn't deserve this_. She hadn't realized just how long she'd been waiting for someone to tell her that until she heard it.

* * *

It was twenty minutes after the final bell had rung and Sarah still hadn't left school yet. This was unusual for her; most days, she was off campus mere minutes after the conclusion of her final class. But today, she had been stuck talking to a girl in her class about a group project they had to work on. Sarah was pretty sure she's successfully conned this girl into doing about ninety percent of the work (What? She was busy) and was now taking a shortcut through the locker room. She was still grounded, and knew it would cause suspicion if she wasn't home in ten minutes.

The locker room was nearly empty by the time she got there, as she suspected would be the case. She confidently strode through to the opposite door, and was just about to exit when she heard a voice she recognized. "What do you mean I'm off the squad?" Sarah halted at Alison's voice, and slowly turned, walking slowly toward her. Another voice responded, "Alison, you've just missed too many practices. You can't compete with us. There's just no way you could catch up."

Sarah grimaced; this girl's voice was grating and preppy. She spoke as if she owned the world. She supposed that a couple weeks ago, Alison's voice had sounded the same to her, but it was somewhat different now. Still mildly annoying, but without the same edge of entitlement.

"Look, it's not personal. We'd love for you to audition again next fall," the girl sneered in a sickly sweet voice. It was obvious that she was taking pleasure out of this conversation. Alison gasped, "You would make me _audition_? In the _fall?" _she shrieked, clearly appalled. _There's the entitlement_, Sarah thought, but she somehow couldn't manage to feel annoyed at that moment. She just felt bad for Alison; whether or not she should be required audition, Sarah could tell the suggestion was humiliating for her.

"Okay, I've got to go to practice. Turn in your pom poms by the end of the week," the girl turned on her heel and left the locker room. As soon as the door shut behind her, Sarah slowly approached Alison, until she was standing just a few feet away from her in the aisle, where Alison was seated on a bench, her face turned downward. Sensing someone's presence, Alison turned, jumping when she saw Sarah. "What are you doing here?" she snapped, hastily wiping away a couple of tears from her eyes. Sarah didn't answer her question, and instead just muttered, "She's a bitch, Alison. You know that, right?"

Alison rolled her eyes, "She's the most popular girl in school, Sarah. Of course she's a bitch." Sarah couldn't help but chuckle at how Alison managed to say that with a completely straight face. She took a step closer to this girl who she was beginning to see as family. Not quite like Felix or Mrs. S, or even Cosima, but enough that she felt obligated to look out for her. "Look, who needs cheerleading or any of those brats? Why don't you come hang out at my house, yeah? I'm sure Cosima would like the company." Alison eyed her suspiciously, "Are you just offering because you feel sorry for me? You probably have plenty of friends. Why do you want to hang out with me?"

Now it was Sarah's turn to roll her eyes, "Jesus Christ, Alison. You sure don't make this easy." She sat down next to Alison on the bench, "You're not just a friend, Alison. You're my…" she stopped, she wasn't quite ready to say sister. So instead, she finished, "You're different. I mean, we share DNA, for fuck's sake. And, honestly," she paused and Alison raised her eyebrows, eager to hear what else Sarah had to say. "I don't really have a lot of friends," Sarah continued hesitantly, "I was arrested a few months back. Drug use and vandalism. Mrs. S managed to get me out of it with just some community service and probation. But I can't hang out with my old crowd. They still do the same stuff, and I can't afford to take that chance. And, well, it's kind of hard to make new friends when you have that kind of reputation."

Alison sat stunned. With Sarah's swagger and confidence, she had just assumed that she was popular. Not popular in the same way that cheerleaders were, but in the sense that she had a steady group. And in the sense that while people might talk and judge, most of them secretly thought she was pretty cool. Alison was surprised to hear that this wasn't the case, and even more surprised that Sarah had chosen to tell her about it. They weren't exactly close, but she supposed she knew what Sarah meant when she said she was different than just any friend.

"So, what do you say? Come over to my place?" Sarah finally broke the silence. She worried that maybe she shouldn't have told Alison all that. After all, she was an uptight cheerbitch. _Or ex-cheerbitch_. But Alison nodded, and smiled in a kind way that Sarah had not yet seen, "Yes. I think that would be nice." Sarah beamed, jumping to her feet, "Now, that's what I'm talking about! We gotta hurry, though. I'm already late and at this rate, S will probably think I made a run for the border."


	16. Chapter 16

When Sarah and Alison arrived at Sarah's house, they were surprised to find not only Cosima, but also Beth, waiting for them. The girls were on the edge of the living room sofa, playing some of Sarah's video games. "Oi! What are you doing here, Beth?" Sarah asked in surprise. "Good to see you too, Sarah," Beth quipped back, not looking away from her video game. "You know what I mean," Sarah replied with a snicker. Beth had seemed so quiet and serious just a couple of weeks ago, now she was matching Sarah's aggression with sarcasm.

"She brought me my homework," Cosima supplied, also keeping her eyes fixed on the video game. Sarah looked confused, "How did you manage that? Do you even know where her classes are?" Beth shrugged, "I'm a hall monitor. I just looked up her schedule after the dean went to yell at someone without logging out. I told her teachers we were cousins. They didn't seem suspicious. I think the dreadlocks and glasses make us look different enough that it works." Sarah laughed, once again baffled that Beth's position as a hall monitor made her a total badass, rather than a major bummer as Sarah had initially expected it would.

"Victory!" Cosima cheered, as her avatar jumped up and down on the screen over the corpse of Beth's. Beth began to protest, "No fair! Sarah distracted me! I want a rematch!" Cosima just laughed, "You lost the last five games!" she exclaimed gleefully. Cosima hadn't gotten to play video games since she moved, and she was relieved that she still had her touch. She was the reigning champion amongst her friends in San Francisco.

It was then that Beth noticed Alison standing with Sarah too. She smiled, "How's it going Ali?" she asked cheerfully. But Alison just glared at her, before bursting into tears, "Everything's shit!" she exclaimed, before collapsing on the couch in a pout between Beth and Cosima. Beth stroked her hair, looking at her with concern, "I'm sure not everything—"

"Yes, everything, Beth!" she snapped. "I confronted my lying not-my-parents about the DNA test this morning, and I was just kicked me off the cheerleading squad for missing too many practices, and on top of that, I have an Algebra test tomorrow that I'm probably going to fail miserably." She sat pitifully on the couch with her chin resting in her hands. The other three looked at one another, slightly taken aback by her sudden outburst. It was Cosima who finally spoke up, "Well, I could probably help you with the Algebra?" Alison looked up at her, with a sort of strained look that none of them could quite read. "That… would be very nice of you," Alison mumbled. Cosima smiled, while Sarah cleared off the kitchen table for them to work, relieved that another crisis had been momentarily averted.

* * *

"Okay okay, so you're just gonna want to take the inverse of the logarithm and then distribute the coefficient. See, like this," Cosima reached over to Alison's homework to try to mark the page for her, but Alison slapped her hand away. "Cosima, I told you! You have to explain more! I still haven't the slightest clue what you're doing!" she huffed, crossing her hands over her chest in frustration. "Sorry, sorry," muttered Cosima, "Let's back up a bit…" She gestured wildly with her hands as she explained, as if she was trying to construct the variables with her fingers.

Beth exchanged a knowing glance with Sarah from the other side of the table, and they both snickered under their breath. This had been going on for the last couple of hours. Cosima wasn't a _bad_ tutor; she certainly knew her stuff. It was just that she would tend to get carried away with excitement, and Alison didn't have enough patience to reel her back in gently. But Sarah and Beth were grateful to see this; it seemed the Cosima and Alison's frustration with each other was successfully keeping them distracted from the less pleasant happenings in their own lives.

The front door opened, and Felix entered. He was about to dance up the staircase, completely absorbed in a song playing on his Walkman, when he heard a scream from the kitchen. Startled, and slightly curiously, he made is way over to the kitchen table. Alison was shouting at Cosima about how she would never learn Algebra, so why even bother. Cosima seemed to be trying to placate her by explaining that all of this would really be so much simpler if she just used some calculus, which was clearly only making things worse, and Sarah and Beth were sitting at the other end of the table, obviously trying to stifle their giggles.

"Hey, now!" said Felix as he approached Alison, "You're… you're the cheerleader, right?" He was trying the best he could to remember the details the girls had shared this morning, but he had been a bit distracted by the whole … clone thing. Sarah, Beth, and Cosima's eyes all simultaneously widened in horror, and Felix knew he had made a mistake. Before he had the chance to apologize, and venture another guess, Alison turned on him, her eyes glowing red with anger, "No! No, I'm not a cheerleader, okay? _They kicked me off the effing squad!_" Felix grimaced slightly, racking his brain for a way to make this right. He had hoped to get off on a more positive note with his sister's… well, whatever these girls were.

"Well, that's just perfect then because…. because now you can be in the play!" Felix grinned nervously, clapping his hands together. All four girls looked back at him in confusion. "What on earth do you mean?" Alison inquired, still fuming. Felix continued, "Well, one of the girls in the chorus just dropped out today, so we need to replace her ASAP. Our director told us each to find someone who could replace her, you know, so we'll have options. I was gonna ask Sarah, but lord knows she can't act." Sarah was about to object, but decided against it; he was right after all, and figured it was better to sit back and let Felix work his magic. He could be very persuasive when he wanted to be.

"But you!" Felix continued, "Well, you seem to have a flare for the dramatic. In a good way!" He added hastily when he received a glare from Alison. Sarah, Beth, and Cosima all nodded vigorously. "He's so right, Ali! You should go for it!" Beth chimed in enthusiastically. Alison was quietly considering it. "I did pull off a stunning performance as the angel in the Christmas pageant last year," she finally added. Felix beamed, "Wonderful! Meet me after school tomorrow then outside the auditorium. And if you want, I can even run lines with you tonight." Alison nodded, a small smile crossing her face, "Thank you. I would like that."

The other three girls sighed in relief as Siobhan entered from the kitchen. "Sarah, why don't you set the table?" Sarah nodded, and rose to head into the kitchen. Siobhan then turned to Beth and Alison, "You girls are welcome to stay for dinner. I made plenty of spaghetti." Beth agreed instantly, "Thanks so much, Mrs. S!" She knew her parents wouldn't be making her dinner—her dad was working and her mom had barely come out of her room for the last week. Beth now figured that this was because the divorce was hitting her hard. Alison hesitated slightly; she knew she should go home. Her parents would be expecting her for dinner, and especially after this morning's outburst, it would be wise not to upset them. But against her better judgment, she nodded, "That would be lovely. Thank you, Mrs. S."

* * *

It was 9pm by the time Alison pulled into her driveway. She dragged her feet as she pulled her belongings from her car and slowly approached her front door. She took a deep breath before slowly turning the knob and pushing the door open. She was not surprised to find her parents sitting on the sofa in the living room, waiting for her, though they lacked the panic that they had this morning.

"Alison, would you please come over here?" her mother requested. She was surprised by the gentleness in her mother's voice, and decided to join her parents, taking a seat on a chair across from them. Her mother inhaled, and it looked to Alison like she was holding back tears. She hadn't been expecting this. She hadn't seen her mother cry since her grandfather died four years ago. She sat tensely, waiting for her mother to speak, "Alison… where did you take this DNA test?"

Alison looked down at her knees, and mumbled, "A friend had access to the equipment." It sort of the truth, but her eyes remained fixed on her feet. She was a terrible liar, and worried that her parents would see right through her if she dared to look up. Her mother, however, chose not to pursue this line of questioning further, "I suppose it doesn't matter." Alison couldn't help but look up at her mother then. It wasn't like her mother to let anything go; they had that in common.

Alison just watched her mother try to calm herself, her father placing his hand on her back. It hadn't yet occurred to Alison that this would be a difficult conversation for her parents to have as well. That perhaps their lie wasn't malicious. Finally, her mother looked up at her, her eyes filled with tears, "Alison, you weren't adopted."

Anger flashed through Alison's eyes and she was about to jump to her feet, when her mother reach over and placed a hand on her daughter's knee, "Please, hear us out." Alison had never heard her mother beg; she remained in her chair, waiting. Her mother continued, "Alison, I couldn't have children. Not of my own, anyway. There was a problem with my eggs. So, we did invitro."

Alison looked into her mother's eyes, confusion etched into her features, as her mother got up and sat next to her, continuing with the story, "They harvested some of my eggs and your father's sperm. And then they implanted the embryo inside of me." Tears spilled onto her mother's cheeks, "And I gave birth to you." Her mother took in a shakey breath, and Alison could feel a lump growing in her throat. The way her mother was speaking, crying, Alison knew she had to be telling the truth.

Alison's mother wiped away a couple tears, before placing her hand firmly on her daughter's knee once again. "We think… we could contact the place that did the invitro. The DYAD Institute. We could ask if they could perform another DNA test, and if it was possible that there was some sort of a… a mix-up." She squeezed Alison's knee tighter. "We will do that, if that's what you want and need, Alison. But know this. Whatever they tell us, it could never change the fact that _you are my daughter_." A tear slipped out of Alison's eye and she threw her arms around her mother, burying her head in her shoulder. She would decide what she wanted later. For now, she was just grateful that something, this one crucial thing, would remain the same.


	17. Chapter 17

It was early the next morning when Cosima slipped out of Sarah's bed, and quietly got dressed. She pulled on her favorite red dress, and a black and white scarf to complete the look. She knew it would make more sense to wear pants—it was cold outside, and she hadn't managed to grab any leggings from her bedroom when she left—but somehow, today, this dress felt more necessary than, like, the prevention of pneumonia or whatever disease she might be afflicted with due to poor preparation for the weather. Sarah had given an extra eyeliner she had found in her dresser. Cosima applied it carefully, intentionally.

When she had finished getting ready, she slipped her books into her backpack, and tiptoed downstairs, the steps creaking softly beneath her feet. She placed a note on the kitchen table for Siobhan, explaining that she headed to school early to catch up on the homework she missed. She felt guilty for lying, especially after the kindness that Mrs. S had shown her, but she didn't want to have to answer questions later. Especially since Cosima suspected that her favorite dress and the time spent on her make-up and her freezing legs would be for nothing, since it was entirely likely that Delphine would not even be there. She was probably so freaked out over what happened in the lab two days ago that she would never want to speak to Cosima again.

Cosima was just about to open the front door when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped up in shock and abruptly turned to see Sarah standing behind her. Sarah held her hands up as a gesture of peace, "Sorry, Cos. Didn't mean to startle you." Cosima exhaled as her heartbeat slowly returned to normal, "It's fine." She mumbled, trying to avoid Sarah's gaze, "Just heading to school early. Getting an early start on homework. Sorry to wake you."

But Sarah wouldn't let her go—she instantly saw through the lie, "You're going to meet Delphine, aren't you?" Cosima hesitated briefly before looking up at Sarah, knowing she'd been caught, "If she even wants to meet me." Cosima mumbled, hating herself for sounding so insecure. Sarah's eyes softened; she still didn't trust Delphine, but she didn't want to add a break up to everything else Cosima was dealing with. After a moment, Sarah nodded, "Be careful, alright? I'll cover for you." Cosima smiled gratefully, "Thanks Sarah," she whispered, before slipping out the door, quietly shutting it behind her.

* * *

As she walked to the bridge, Cosima tried her best to prepare herself for the possibility that Delphine would not be there. Even if the disaster in the lab on Tuesday hadn't completely scared her away forever, she might not even know they were meeting today. Cosima had missed school yesterday, and therefore wasn't there to meet her under the bridge (if she had even come). Plus, it was only 6:20am; she was arriving early, which was quite unusual for her, but her anxiety made it impossible to wait any longer. It was entirely possible Cosima would arrive before Delphine. To sum up, there was a myriad of reasons to think that Delphine would not be waiting for her when she arrived at the bridge.

By the time Cosima was set to round the corner to the bridge, she had completely convinced herself that no one would be there to meet her—she would be sitting all alone for an hour and a half without even pants to keep her warm. So when she slowly made her way around the bend and saw the tall, blonde girl waiting for her, she just about burst into tears of joy. She ran to meet her girlfriend, ignoring how cheesy and cliché this must seem. When Delphine heard footsteps behind her, she turned around just in time for Cosima to throw her arms around her.

Delphine clung to her tightly, feeling Cosima shaking slightly in her arms and feeling moisture on her neck from her girlfriend's tears. It was all she could do not to burst into tears herself. She had been so worried about her, especially when Cosima hadn't been at school the day before. When Cosima finally let go, Delphine took her face in her hands, "Ma cherie. I was so worried about you." Cosima wiped the remaining tears from her face, and shrugged, "I'm okay. I was worried you would never want to see me again. After—" But Delphine cut her off, planting a kiss on her lips.

After a moment, Delphine pulled away from Cosima, and reached into her bag, "I brought pastries." She handed the carefully wrapped pastries to Cosima, who held them in her hands, staring at them sadly. They were chocolate croissants, Cosima's favorite, and Cosima knew they took hours to prepare. Delphine, noticing the distress on her girlfriend's face, asked with concern, "What? Did I do something wrong?" Cosima shook her head, placing her hand gently on Delphine's arm, "No, no. You're perfect. It's just… I don't have the blanket. I forgot to grab it." Cosima filled with remorse, wishing she had something to offer her girlfriend in return for her loving gesture. But Delphine simply smiled in relief, "Cosima, it's okay. We do not need it." But Cosima shook her head, and began to pace, "How could I forget to grab it?"

Delphine approached her cautiously, confusion crossing her face, "It's okay. Really. It is not necessary." Cosima stopped, looking up at her girlfriend with desperation in her eyes, "But Delphine! It's _our blanket_. And now I'll never get it back." Now Delphine looked even more perplexed, sensing from Cosima's seemingly unreasonable distress that there was something else going on, "Cosima, what do you mean?" Looking down at her shoes, Cosima bit her lip, before finally mumbling, "They kicked me out." Delphine stopped. She didn't need to ask who Cosima meant by "they." She didn't know what to say, her heart breaking for her girlfriend. She pulled the smaller girl into a hug, stroking her back gently, cradling her head against her shoulder, wishing there was something she could say to make it even a little better. Finally, it occurred to her, and Delphine suggested softly, "Well, let's go sit on that bench over there instead."

Cosima pulled away, staring up at Delphine until a grin crossed her face, starting small, but growing wider as the seconds passed. _They didn't have to hide anymore. _Together, they walked to the bench at the entrance to the nearby park. They sat on the bench, Cosima leaning against Delphine, resting her head against her girlfriend's shoulder. Delphine wrapped her arm around Cosima, running her fingers through her dreads. They just sat like that, eating their croissants. They didn't say anything; they didn't need to.

* * *

"You're late," commented a man in a suit and dark glasses as Delphine climbed into the car. Delphine stared at her shoes, closing the door behind her, "I was walking Cosima to school," she muttered. He closed a newspaper he was reading and looked over at the blonde, "So… updates?"

Delphine bit her lip. She didn't want to tell him anything. She didn't even want to _look _at him. The man sighed, "Ms. Cormier, I don't have all day." Delphine's eyes snapped up to meet his; they were filled with rage, "_You lied," _she whispered venomously. The man raised his eyebrows, "I assure you I did no such thing—"

"You told me she wouldn't get hurt!" Delphine shouted, startling the man with her sudden volume. He was about to protest to her accusation, but Delphine didn't give him the chance, "You just _had _to tell them about her lab! Why would you do that? I was giving you all the information you needed! They called her mother! She was kicked out of her home!"

Delphine was close to tears at this point as she continued to glare expectantly at the man, her eyes demanding an explanation. After a moment of silence, the man shook his head, looking up at Delphine smugly, "Ms. Cormier, we have an agreement. You participate in this study, in exchange for a full scholarship to a fine school in Canada, as well as the chance to observe cutting edge eugenics—"

"I have seen nothing _cutting edge_ yet," Delphine spat back at him in fury, "So far, I have only spied on a high school student. And you caused her undue harm that—"

"On the contrary," the man interjected, his tone suddenly darker, "We have not caused any harm. It is you that has caused her harm." Delphine stopped abruptly, feeling momentarily as if she were unable to breathe. The man continued, as grim smile crossing his features, "It was not part of you assignment to pursue an intimate relationship with the subject. And any harm brought upon Cosima was the result of such a relationship, was it not?" Delphine sat stunned; she loathed what he was implying, she could not refute it. She stared into her lap, gripping her hands together tightly. She felt nauseous. _It was my fault_.

The man leaned forward, and continued, "Subject 324B21 will remain a part of this study, whether you are her monitor or not. So, you can either give me an update or you will be on a plane to France by this afternoon. Which will it be?"


	18. Chapter 18

That Friday afternoon, Cosima and Sarah walked home from Blockbuster, movies and candy in hand. Siobhan had agreed to let Beth and Alison sleep over that night, and since Felix and Alison had play rehearsal, and Beth had some sort of hall monitor business to take care of before the weekend began, it was up to the two them to gather the necessary supplies. They had chosen _Back to the Future _and _Jurassic Park_, two of Cosima's favorites. Sarah hadn't seen either of them, but they sounded good enough, especially since the other option was _Titanic_, upon Alison's request. Sarah and Cosima had both agreed to tell Alison that it had already been checked out, as neither of them were all that keen on watching a three hour chick flick where pretty much everyone died.

When they arrived at the house, Sarah hollered, "S, we're home!" before bounding up the stairs, Cosima following close behind. "In your room," answered Siobhan, to Sarah's surprise. It was rare for Siobhan to enter Sarah's room; it was usually such a disaster that it was difficult to walk across it, and she had long given up on trying to get Sarah to pick up her things. When the girls entered, they saw Siobhan placing some purple sheets and a blanket onto a new twin bed, at the opposite corner of the room as Sarah's.

Siobhan straightened up, and smiled at them, "Hello girls. Cosima, there was a yard sale down the street today, and I picked up this bed for you. You don't mind rooming with Sarah, do you?" Cosima was stunned. Mrs. S had gotten her a _bed._ Before she could respond, Siobhan continued, "I picked up some sheets at the store, as well as a couple containers to fit under your bed. You can keep your clothes and belongings in those until we can get you a dresser, though Sarah, you should clear out some room in our closet, for anything that needs hanging. And clear off that desk—it seems that Cosima actually _does _her homework and might like to use it." Sarah just nodded; while she normally argued whenever Siobhan told her to clean up, she didn't want Cosima to interpret any protests as a sign that she wasn't welcome in her room.

Cosima was still standing in shock, her hands grasping for the words she didn't yet have, "Thank you. I… I don't even know what to say." Siobhan smiled, "You don't have to say anything, love. This is your home, for as long as you need it to be." Cosima nodded as she filled with gratitude. _Home_. It seemed like a long time since she'd had one of those.

* * *

Beth wandered into her house at a little after 5pm. Alison and Felix were going to pick her up her when their play rehearsal finished in about half an hour, so she had a bit of time to pack her belongings for the evening. She headed down the hall to her room, throwing some pajamas and a change of clothes from her drawer into a small duffle bag. She looked around, trying to think of anything else she might need. Her room was pretty Spartan; there were not posters on the walls, her desk was clear, and all her belongings were neatly stowed away in drawers or on her shelves. To some, it might seem boring, but Beth found it calming. Her mother was a total pack-rat, with random items scattered all over the house, occupying every surface, and much of the floor space. Beth liked having a space of her own, free of clutter.

As she walked over to the bathroom to grab her toothbrush, she saw that the door to her parent's room was slightly ajar. She slowly stepped inside, taken aback by the sight before her. Her mother was lying in bed, still in her pajamas, looking as if she hadn't showered in days. The room was a mess; it was always cluttered, but this was different—take out containers were scattered all along the floor, on top of dirty laundry, some of them appeared to be several days old. Beth approached her mother, carefully avoiding stepping on the rotting food sitting on the ground.

"Mom?" she called softly. Beth's mother turned to face her, forcing her face into a smile. "Hey sweetheart. How are you doing?" her voice was raspy, as if she hadn't spoken to anyone in several days, and Beth felt a twinge of guilt. _I should have checked up on her earlier_. "Uh, I'm okay," Beth mumbled in response, before heading into the master bathroom and opening the cupboard under the sink, locating a large trash bag. She headed back into the bedroom, and began picking up the old take out containers and placing them into the trash. Her mother protested, "Beth you don't have to do that," she weakly insisted, though she made not effort to get up and help her.

Beth sighed, and looked up at her mother, "Mom, what's going on? This isn't healthy." Her mother looked away, "You spoke to her father, yes?" Beth nodded, even though technically this wasn't true. Her mother looked back at her with tired eyes, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Are you going out tonight?" Beth shrugged, and continued picking up the take out containers off the floor, "I mean, I was going to go sleep over at a friend's house tonight, but I can stay—"

"No, you should go! I'll be fine," her mother insisted with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Beth hesitated, but heard Alison honk from the driveway. "You're sure you'll be okay?" she asked carefully. Her mother nodded, "I'll be fine. Go. Have fun," she responded, before moving her eyes back to her television program. Beth sighed, as a second honk sounded from the driveway. "Okay, but I'll be back tomorrow morning." Her mother nodded, already absorbed once again in the TV, only half listening.

Beth ran to her room and grabbed her duffle before heading outside, and hopping into the backseat of Alison's car. Though she knew it was terrible, she was relieved that her mother didn't make her stay. She wasn't ready to take care of her mother; she was still a kid, and wanted to remain one, for at least a little while longer.

* * *

"We're here!" cried Felix, bursting dramatically through the front door, closely flowed by Beth and Alison, both of whom were carrying overnight bags. Sarah and Cosima had already prepared the living room; the couch cushions and two air mattresses covered the floor, and on top of them laid two opened sleeping bags, and a bunch of pillows and blankets, taken from Sarah and Cosima's beds, as well as a couple spares pulled out of the closet. The two of them sat on top of their giant, makeshift bed, playing video games. While Cosima had beaten Beth easily the other day, Sarah was giving her a run for her money. Both were deeply invested in the game (they were on a tiebreaker round), and merely grunted some vague acknowledgement to the group entering, eyes still glued to the screen as their fingers pounded the controllers.

Felix rolled his eyes at their apathetic welcome, wandering over to watch the game. He raised is eyebrows, "Wow, Cos is really good, ey? Looks like she's kicking your ass." Sarah scowled at him, "She is not!" But the distraction was just enough to give Cosima the advantage she needed, as her avatar struck the final blow on Sarah's. She laughed with joy, throwing her arms above her head and chanting, "I am the champion!" Sarah huffed in frustration as Felix reached over to give Cosima a high five. "Yeah, whatever," Sarah grunted, "We'll see how long that lasts."

Beth snickered, remembering her own defeat the day before, and asked, "Well, what are we doing for dinner? I'm starving." Alison nodded in agreement, looking expectantly to Cosima and Sarah, when Siobhan entered from the kitchen. "Oh, good. Everyone's here. I was just about to order a couple pizzas. What does everyone want?" she asked, and then marveled at how the four genetically identical girls could have such different tastes in pizza. She knew that Sarah detested olives and green pepper, and was surprised to hear both Beth and Alison request the veggie pizza containing both of those ingredients. Cosima requested some sort of spinach and seafood pizza, with Alfredo sauce, but when Mrs. S looked at her confusion, she blushed, realizing this was probably just a specialty of her local pizza parlor in San Fran, and said she'd be find with pepperoni. Fortunately, Felix would eat anything.

Once Siobhan had ordered two large pizzas, a pepperoni and a veggie (half of which had no mushrooms), the girls waited in the living room, and Cosima excitedly presented the movies she had picked out. To her dismay, Beth and Alison seemed less than impressed. "What?!" she cried incredulously, "But these are classic sci-fi films! I mean, what's cooler than dinosaurs and time travel?!" Beth shrugged, "A lot of things," she muttered, glancing apologetically in Cosima's direction.

"Why didn't you pick up _Titanic_? I specifically requested it!" Alison challenged; she was even less excited about Cosima's movie choices than Beth was. "Someone had already checked it out," responded Cosima as they had planned, a little too quickly. Felix raised his eyebrows, "Really? Someone had checked out _all ten copies of Titanic_?" Cosima bit her lip, and mumbled, "Yes?" Sarah put her face in her palm; she should have figured that Cosima would be a terrible liar. Plus, she'd forgotten that Felix had rented _Titanic_ multiple times, and would probably be easier to fool than Alison.

"Not to worry," interjected Beth, "Because I brought it!" she smiled, pulling the massive two VHS _Titanic _box set from her duffle. Cosima's face fell, and Sarah stared at her in disbelief, "You _own_ it?" She hadn't pegged Beth to be the type who was into chick flicks, let alone the type to own such a movie, but Beth just nodded defiantly at Sarah, "You're damn right." Alison beamed at her, eagerly reaching for the movie.


	19. Chapter 19

"Wait, so what's that stuff that makes the time machine run and why don't they have it?" Alison asked, her voice laced with irritation, as she took a bite out of her pizza. In the end, Cosima had convinced them to start with _Back to the Future_, insisting that they would have time for two movies anyway, and it wasn't as long as _Titanic_. Though Beth, Alison, and Felix weren't exactly eager to watch it, they had to admit that her logic was sound.

"It's _plutonium_. And it's, like, a radioactive substance. Even in 1985, Doc had to steal it from terrorists to get his hands on it. Are you even paying attention to anything that's happening?" Cosima responded, not at all able to understand why this movie might be hard to follow. "Easy, geek monkey, " interjected Sarah. "Not all of us are super nerds like you."

Cosima smiled, taking pride in this statement, "You know, I was on this softball team when I was, like, 8. Before I realized that I hated sports. And we had to pick nicknames for our jersey. And I picked 'Plutonium' because that was what made the time machine travel at 88 mph. So, you know, it's pretty awesome, speed-tastic shit. But when I tried to explain it to my teammates, they totally didn't get it. They all thought my dad made it up—which, I guess to be fair _was _probably something he might have come up with—"

"Shhhh…. I'm trying to watch the movie," sighed Beth; this wasn't the first time Cosima had interrupted the film with a random tangent. But Sarah cackled at the story; she could totally imagine a young Cosima coming up with that dorky nickname, and eagerly explaining it to her friends. "That's funny, Cos. So, you're Dad's a scientist then?" she asked, instantly regretting her words; she had momentarily forgotten to tread lightly when discussing Cosima's family. Cosima seemed to hesitate, before responding, "Yeah, he was an astronomy professor at UC Berkley." Sarah noted the past tense, but didn't press further.

Just then, Felix strolled in from the kitchen, carrying a large bottle of soda and some solo cups. "What did I miss?" he asked cheerfully, pouring each of the girls some coke. Beth smirked, "Not much. Radioactive shit fuels the time machine and Cosima's a giant nerd." He laughed, handing Cosima her soda, "Oh, so the usual then."

* * *

"Jack! Jack! Jack!" Rose cried softly on the TV screen, as the end of _Titanic _played. It was late, by this point, and the girls were huddled underneath blankets watching; Felix had already fallen asleep, half his body on a couch cushion and half on the floor. Beth and Alison were huddled together, crying softly. Cosima was sitting next to Beth, looking away from the screen, trying to pretend she wasn't biting back tears—she hated sad movies. Sarah was on the other side of Cosima, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"It's just so tragic!" Alison sobbed, as Rose whispered that she'll "never let go!" She wiped away a couple of tears, "I mean, it was _true love_, and it was cut short!" Sarah scoffs, "True love? They knew each other, what? Two days? Even if I did believe in true love, I can tell you for sure _that's_ not it." Beth sighed in irritation, sniffing away her tears, "_What have we discussed about talking during the movie?_" But Alison was glaring at Sarah in horror, "Have you no heart, Sarah? You don't believe in true love?"

Sarah shrugged, "I mean, not really. You ever been in love?" she asked, already pretty sure she knew the answer; Alison seemed like the type to idealize romances from novels and movies, without having much personal experience herself. Alison's silence confirmed it. She had, in fact, never been in a relationship. Truth be told, she'd never even kissed anyone.

"Beth, you have a boyfriend, right? You believe in true love?" Alison asked. Beth rolled her eyes in frustration that the movie was, once again, being interrupted, but responded anyway, "_Had_ a boyfriend. I broke up with Paul last week. And I wasn't in love with him."

Sarah looked over at her, perplexed. She was a bit surprised Beth hadn't mentioned this information, with all the time they had been spending together over the past two weeks. But Beth continued, pulling her from her thoughts, "But I believe in true love. You don't, Manning?" Sarah shook her head, "Nah, people are too selfish for that." Sarah had dated several guys, even had sex with a couple of them, but all of them turned out to be total assholes.

"I don't think that's true," supplied Cosima. She was now on her stomach, twirling one of her dreads between her fingers. The others turned to look toward her. "So, you're in love with Delphine?" Alison asked, smiling gently. After everything that had happened, she felt guilty about the way she had initially reacted to Cosima's sexuality a couple weeks before, and wanted to show her that she didn't mean it. Cosima smiled, thinking of her girlfriend, "Yeah." She rolled onto her back, playing with her hands as she spoke, "I don't know. I mean, I'm not sure I believe in 'true love' in the sense that there's one perfect person for everyone. Life's not a Nicholas Sparks novel." Sarah snorted, and Alison, who had read several of those books, glared at Cosima who smirked back at her. "But I don't think people are too selfish. I think, when it comes down to it, people really want to care for each other. Put others first." She looked over at Sarah and smiled. She wasn't only thinking of Delphine; true love, after all, wasn't always romantic.

* * *

Alison was sitting up on the air mattress, watching the sunlight slowly begin to stream into the living room. The clock on the TV read 6:30am, and she was the only one awake. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence for Alison, being the first one awake at sleepovers. She often had trouble sleeping in unfamiliar environments. She reached over to her bag, trying to quietly pull out a book to read, but her movement made the whole mattress shift, causing Beth to stir, opening her eyes groggily.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," Alison whispered, pulling the book from her bag and returning to her spot on the mattress. But Beth merely shrugged, "No worries." She smiled, and sat up next to Alison, "Whatcha reading?" she asked, leaning in next to Alison to get a better look at her book, _The Scarlet Letter_ by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Beth raised her eyebrows, "You in AP English Lit?" Alison nodded, "Yeah. Second Period. Mrs. Sweeney." Beth smiled, "Me too! Third period, though. We can study together!" Alison returned her smile, "Yeah, that would be lovely."

She put the book aside, "How are things going?" she asked Beth, "You know, with your parents?" Beth shrugged, resting her head on her left fist, "I haven't seen my dad since that night." She didn't need to specify; they both knew the night she was referring to, "And my mom… she's a bit of a mess. She's barely left her room. She's taking it pretty hard." Beth ran her fingers through her hair, curling her knees into her body. "I'm sorry to hear that. That must be hard," said Alison, placing a hand on Beth's.

Beth looked up at Alison, "How about you, Ali? Have you talked to your parents?" Alison nodded, with a slight smile, resting a hand on her cheek as she sat cross legged on the mattress, "Yeah, actually. They told me… they said they did invitro. They didn't know that we're not genetically related. They think there was a mix up." This caught Beth's attention; she turned her body so that she was facing Alison directly, "Do you believe them?" she asked. She didn't mean for it to sound like an accusation, but that was how Alison heard it. "Yes, Beth. I do believe them. They are still my parents," she said, her tone slightly irritated. Beth held up a hand defensively, "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I just had to ask." She studied Alison carefully, waiting for her to continue.

Alison sighed, leaning against the couch, "They said they would contact the fertility people if I wanted them too. They're called the DYAD Institute. I haven't decided if I want them too, yet." Beth's eyes widened, "I mean, you have to, Ali! Think about it! This could be the key to some answers about our… origins!" Alison looked back at Beth harshly, "I don't know if I care enough about our _origins_ to turn our lives upside down! I mean, you don't know what we'll find!"

"Oi! Keep it down, would ya?" Sarah grumbled from the other end of the mattress. But Beth had already begun to climb over, shaking her awake. "Sarah! Get up! Alison had new clone information!" Sarah scowled at Beth, "What is so bloody important that it can't wait 'til a decent hour?" But she had already begun to sit up; she was awake, and she had to admit, she was curious.

Alison sighed, clearly frustrated, but explained to Sarah what she had just told Beth. "So, do you know anything about the DYAD Institute?" Beth asked hopefully. Sarah shook her head, brow furrowed, but jumped to her feet, and headed out of the living room, hopping over a still sleeping Felix, who continued to snore lightly as the mattress shook beneath him. She returned a moment later with Siobhan's bulky laptop and an Ethernet cable to connect to the internet. As she powered up the laptop, she tapped Cosima on the shoulder, "If we're going to research this now, we might as well wake up our resident geek monkey."

Waking Cosima was like waking a bear from hibernation—she had, after all, slept through their conversations and all the motion of the mattress. Sarah poked and shoved at her, met only by grunts, until finally, she sat up, searching for her glasses. As she slipped them on her face, she looked over at the clock on the TV, glaring at Sarah when she read it, "It's 6:45am. On a Saturday." Sarah ignored her grumpiness, and simply asked, "So, Geek Monkey, know anything about the DYAD Institute?"

Cosima paused, "Name sounds familiar. Why?" She turned groggily to Beth and Alison, who explained once again what her parents had told her. Sarah was waiting for the internet to load when Cosima's eyes suddenly bulged with recognition, "The DYAD Institute… They're the ones who give Delphine's scholarship."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I updated! I just moved across the country, and haven't had a lot of time to write. But I'm totally still working on this, and will hopefully have more time to write when I get settled. Thank you all so much for the reviews, and for following my story! **


	20. Chapter 20

Delphine stood with Cosima in front of the school, holding her hand tightly before the bell rang. "Are you sure you're alright, Cosima?" Delphine asked her girlfriend, gently stroking her hand across her cheek, "You seem… a bit distracted today." Cosima smiled, forcing herself to make eye contact with her girlfriend, "Yeah, totally. I'm just tired, ya know? Mondays." Delphine nodded, still slightly concerned. She had seen Cosima on Mondays before, but today felt different, "Well, if you are sure. See you after school, oui?" Cosima nodded, "Yeah, same place."

The bell rang and she let go of Delphine's hand, "Gotta go. Already late. Nothing unusual or anything, but you know," Cosima shrugged, trying her best so sound nonchalant as she strutted into the school, Delphine looking after her in concern.

After a minute, when Cosima was pretty sure Delphine would have left, she exited the school where she came in, running across the street to meet Sarah, who was hiding behind a wall around the corner. "There you are!" exclaimed Sarah in an exasperated whisper, "Took ya long enough, huh?" Cosima rolled her eyes, waving her hand dismissively, "Relax. I just said good bye to her, we're not gonna miss her." Sarah sighed, looking at the road ahead, "I hope not. This is where I saw her last time so, I just hope she's consistent."

Cosima sighed, leaning against the wall, "I don't know about this, Sarah. It just seems wrong, you know? Spying on her like this. I mean, the DYAD thing could totally just be a coincidence—"

But Sarah urgently hushed her, pointing across the street to where Delphine had suddenly appeared. She looked over the edge of the street as if she was waiting for someone. Just then, a black town car, with dark windows pulled up next to the street. A tall man with dark glasses stepped out, opening the door for Delphine. Sarah felt Cosima tense next to her, inhaling a sharp intake of breath. Sarah turned toward her in concern, "What is it?"

Cosima stood at a loss for words, clearly shaken, eyes fixed on the man standing with Delphine. Sarah placed an arm gently on her clone's arm, asking gently, but urgently, "Cos?" Taking in a deep breath, Cosima finally managed to whisper, "That's… he was one of them. One of the men who invaded my lab."

* * *

Cosima sat under the bridge after school, waiting for her girlfriend, dreading having to look Delphine in the eye and ask her what was going on. Sarah was worried; she had even offered to come along, but Cosima had declined, reasoning that if Delphine didn't already know about the clones, they didn't want her to. Cosima knew her logic made sense, but as she sat alone waiting, she couldn't help wishing she had her friend there with her.

A moment later, Delphine appeared around the corner walking toward where she was sitting. Usually, Cosima stood to greet her, eager to hold her as soon as she could, but not today. Today she just waited for Delphine to come to her, until finally, her girlfriend was seated beside her. Delphine reached out, placing a hand on Cosima's shoulder that the dreadlocked girl instantly flinched away from. _Merde,_ the blonde thought, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach.Now, she _knew _something was wrong.

"Cosima?" she asked, concern filling her voice. Cosima snapped her head up to look at Delphine, her eyes filled with anger and hurt. When she finally spoke, her lower lip quivered, but her voice was firm, "I saw you this morning. With one of the men who broke into my lab last week. What were you doing with him?" Delphine's eyes widened with horror; she didn't know how she could possibly explain this, so instead she tried to divert the attention away from herself, "Cosima, why were you following me?"

"_Answer the question_, " Cosima seethed with anger. When Delphine looked away, refusing to respond, Cosima leapt to her feet, her once quiet rage now exploding, "TELL ME!" She gripped her dreads, looking up in an attempt to contain the tears that were dangerously close to spilling from her eyes, "Does it have to do with the DYAD Institute?" Delphine froze, before slowly looking up at her girlfriend. _How had she made that connection?_

When Delphine still didn't respond, Cosima threw her hands down against her hips, and turned around so her back faced her girlfriend, "Fine. I'm leaving. Goodbye, Delphine." She began to trudge away, and at that, Delphine jumped to her feet, "No, Cosima, wait!" Cosima stopped walking and Delphine cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder. This time, Cosima didn't flinch away, but she didn't turn to face her either. "Just… just tell me what's going on," Cosima whispered.

Delphine walked around to face Cosima, "It was a condition of my scholarship. I was supposed to give them updates on what was happening in your life, how you were doing." Cosima looked up at her girlfriend, her eyes filled with horror, a tear slipping down her cheek. "Why?" she whispered, trying futilely to steady her voice. Seeing the pain in Cosima's eyes, Delphine gripped her shoulders desperately, "I don't know! They didn't tell me! But it was supposed to be non-invasive! You were never supposed to get hurt! I never imagined they would invade your lab like that!"

But Cosima just shoved herself from Delphine's grasp, and began to run away, down the street into the park. Delphine ran after her, kicking off her heels to catch up, "Cosima, wait!" she pleaded, her voice ragged and frantic, her eyes also filling with tears. Cosima stopped, and spun around to face her. She was now shaking with sobs, "I'm so _stupid_. You lied! It was all a lie! Everything!" Delphine caught up with her, grasping Cosima's hand which she instantly yanked away as if she'd been burned, "Non! Our relationship was not a lie! It never was! Je t'aime, Cosima! Je t'aime."

But Cosima could no longer stand to listen. "Just stay away from me, Delphine," she choked out through her sobs, before running off, leaving Delphine alone and crying on the grass of the park.

* * *

Cosima lay curled up on her bed, her head resting in Sarah's lap as her body shook with loud, ugly sobs. Sarah just sat holding her, gently running her fingers through her dreads, at a loss of what else she could do. She could feel her anger slowly growing when she thought of that French bitch and whatever she had done to Cosima. Sarah didn't even know what had happened yet, as Cosima had been sobbing uncontrollably from the moment she burst through the door to their room. But that lack of knowledge didn't stop her from imagining elaborate death schemes for the blonde.

Eventually Cosima's sobs, quieted to sniffles, and her breathing grew slower, calmer. Sarah didn't want to ask, but she had to know. "What happened, Cos?" Cosima didn't say anything for a moment, and Sarah just waited, patiently. Finally, Cosima answered, "She lied." Her voice was hoarse, as she swallowed back another sob, "She lied about _everything. _She was some spy sent to watch me for her scholarship. I was just… just some experiment to her." Her voice broke as she finished, and a quiet sob slipped from her lips as she buried her head in her hands.

Hearing the word "spy" sent chills down Sarah's spine. _Why would someone be spying on Cosima? _Somewhere, in the pit of her stomach, she knew it had to be because she was a clone. Which begged the question, _Were people spying on the rest of them too?_ But Sarah wasn't ready to think about that yet. Right now, in that moment, her job was taking care of Cosima. _Taking care of her sister_.

"Fuck her, Cos. She's not worth it," Sarah said, trying to take some of the edge out of her voice. Despite her anger and fear, she worried that extreme aggression towards Delphine would only upset her clone more. She felt Cosima nod her head in her lap. "I know," she whispered, "I still love her though." Sarah felt her heart break as Cosima wept quietly in her lap, "I know, " she whispered, "I know you do."


	21. Chapter 21

Beth stood outside the door to her mother's room, collecting her thoughts and mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. Alison had asked her parents to contact the DYAD Institute to inquire about the invitro, and now it was her turn. After all, it was only fair. She really hadn't asked any questions about her adoption since her parents told her about it when she was six, and standing here now, she was surprised by how nervous she was. Though she had always been curious about her biological parents, a part of her had always liked that it was a mystery. As she lingered outside her mother's door, she understood what Alison had meant when she said she wasn't sure she how much she really wanted to know.

Eventually, she lifted her hand and knocked on the door, opening it without waiting for a response. She was slightly relieved to see that even though her mother still hadn't moved from the bed, she was at least sitting up, reading a magazine rather than watching TV. She looked up a Beth and smiled, "Hey girl, how are you?" Beth shrugged, making her way over to her mother and sliding herself onto the bed next to her, "I'm okay. A lot on my mind." Beth's mother reached out and ran a hand gently over Beth's head, "Oh yeah? What are you thinking about?" Beth sighed. _Now or never_.

"I was wondering… what do you know about my birth parents?" Her mother's face fell, and Beth instantly filled with guilt. Her mother was obviously still in a fragile state and she didn't want to upset her, "I mean, we don't have to talk about this. Forget it." She moved to sit up from the bed, but her mother placed a hand on her arm, "No, sweetheart. It's okay. I knew you'd be asking these questions one day. It's only natural."

Only marginally comforted by this statement, Beth lay back down on the bed and looked up at her mother, waiting for her to continue. Beth's mother looked her in the eyes, "It's just a sad story, sweetheart. Your birth parents tried for years to conceive, but were unsuccessful. So they did invitro. And you were born. But only a couple months later, they both disappeared, suddenly in the middle of the night. And they were never found."

Beth remained silent. This wasn't what she had expected, and it was a lot to take in. Her parents had just _disappeared. _With a sinking feeling, she wondered if it had anything to do with the cloning. "How do you know all of this?" Beth asked. Her mother smiled sadly, pulling her daughter closer to her. "Well, your father was assigned to the case of your parents disappearance. He did a lot of interviews. That's how we ended up with you—you were taken into custody by the police, and they knew we were registered foster parents, so they sent you home with us. And we just loved you so much that we never let you go."

Taking Beth's face into her hands, Beth's mother looked at her daughter with a warm, yet sad, smile, "It's strange to think about, that such a terrible tragedy brought me you, the person I love more than anyone in this world."

* * *

Delphine waited under the bridge, perched lightly on the edge of the curb, poised to leap to her feet at a moment's notice. She periodically checked around each corner for Cosima, hoping beyond hope that she would come. It had been three days since she had seen her; this was the third morning she waited alone, fresh pastries baked just in case.

At 8am, the bell finally rang in the distance. Delphine slowly rose, and walked in the direction of the school. She saw a few students rushing inside, but Cosima was not among them. She was just about to turn away until she stopped, squinting at a strange sight before her. Off in the distance, running into the school was a girl who Delphine could have sworn was Cosima, and yet she was so different. She didn't have dreadlocks or glasses. She was clad in a leather jacket, torn jeans, and combat boots. _Had she changed so much in three days? _A young boy was running after, yelling, "Sarah, wait up!" _Sarah? Who was Sarah? _

Delphine pondered this new information as she walked towards the park. Who was Sarah and how did she know Cosima? Or perhaps they didn't know each other at all, but looked exactly alike? She thought back guiltily to the muffled conversations she had heard from outside the door of the lab; she hadn't understood much of what had been said, but could one of those girls have been Sarah? The black car pulled up next to the curb and Delphine climbed in.

The man, who she had come to hate for what he'd done to Cosima (almost as much as she hated herself) looked up from his newspaper with an apathetic grin, "Update?" Delphine composed herself—ironically, it was this man who had taught her how to lie, a skill she appreciated as he stared at her expectantly. "324b21 is doing well. No new information."

* * *

"Sarah, don't worry. I'm totally capable of entertaining myself for the afternoon," Cosima insisted as they stood beside Sarah's locker. It was Friday, and Sarah had to stay after school to work on a group project (the one she had _tried_ to blow off a couple weeks ago, but her partner was much more persistent than she had expected). Sarah sighed looking Cosima in the eyes, "Cos, I totally don't mind ditching this girl. I mean, what's she gonna do right?"

Cosima rolled her eyes, "Dude, no. Don't be ridiculous. I'll be fine." Since she had broken up with Delphine a few days ago, Sarah had refused to leave her side. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her concern; it just made her feel a bit pathetic. She _was_, after all, capable of taking care of herself.

Sarah searched her eyes, knowing that Cosima was more fragile than she liked to admit. Who could blame her? The last two weeks must've been bloody _hell_, "If you're sure?" Sarah asked hesitantly. Cosima nodded vigorously, "Positive." Sarah sighed, "Alright then. Call if ya need anything, yeah? I'll probably make it home before the others get there." They were having another 'clone club' slumber party.

"You got it, " Cosima smiled, "Now go! Or this group project will never end." Sarah nodded curtly and dashed down the hall, leaving Cosima to exit the school in the opposite direction.

She had been taking longer routes home so as not to cross by the bridge. She didn't want to risk running into Delphine. _Not that she waiting for me, she doesn't actually care, _she thought bitterly. She was just about to cross the street into Sarah's neighborhood when a voice called out behind her, "Cosima!"

She froze. She would know that voice anywhere, even though it felt like so long since she'd heard it. Tensing her muscles to stop herself from shaking, she slowly turned to face the woman standing behind her. Her voice caught in her throat, she was momentarily unable to speak.

After a few deep breaths, she finally managed to get out the word she was looking for, "Mom?"


	22. Chapter 22

"What are you doing here?" Cosima finally managed to stammer. She was torn between the urge to run up and leap into her mother's arms, and the competing urge to dash in the opposite direction. So, instead she remained frozen on the spot, staring at her mother with eyes full of confusion.

Her mother approached her slowly, "Cosima, I've missed you so much." She reached out to embrace her daughter, but Cosima stepped backward, avoiding her grasp. "You kicked me out," Cosima said flatly, her eyes quickly glancing downward to avoid her mother's gaze, anger beginning to grow inside of her. _How could her mother expect to hug her as if nothing happened? _Her mother pulled her hands back and shoved them into her pockets, her eyes staring intently at her daughter, as if to will her to look at her. "Cosima, you know I didn't want to," her mother pleaded with a weak, shakey voice.

"No, I don't know that," Cosima snapped, still refusing to make eye contact with her mother. She took yet another step away from her mother, who winced at the growing distance between them. "Your Aunt, she—"

"You could have said something," Cosima stated with more bite than before, forcing herself to look up at her mother's face as she continued bravely, her voice thick, "Mom, _why didn't you say anything_?" Her mother looked into her daughter eyes, and with a pain stricken face, just shook her head.

"I'm doing fine without you, you know," mumbled Cosima, crossing her arms tightly over her chest in an attempt to hide her shaking hands from her mother. She wanted to look strong, as if she didn't care. Her mother smiled sadly, "I knew you would be okay."

"Did you? Did you _really _know?" Cosima snarled, glaring at her mother, a lump forming in the back of her throat. Her mother placed a hand on her forehead, looking as if she might cry, "I… I couldn't say anything, Cosima. Your aunt would have kicked us all out. I had to think of your brother."

At that, Cosima's face softened slightly, and her mother took her opportunity to take a step closer to her daughter. "Cosima, you are so _strong_, and so _brave_," she whispered, her voice more steady than it had been that entire conversation. Cosima bit her lip, "So, why are you here?" she whispered with as little emotion as possible.

Her mother sighed, "Your brother misses you. He wants to see you."

At that, Cosima's eyes instantly filled with tears, and she responded without hesitation, "When can I see him?" Her mother smiled gently, and Cosima could tell that she already had a plan. "Your Aunt is at Bible Study tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking Mikey to the park by the elementary school at 1 o'clock pm. Can—"

"I'll be there," Cosima provided immediately, before turning on her heel and swiftly making her way to Sarah's house, not daring to look back until she had rounded the corner.

* * *

Beth slipped into the back of the auditorium and took her seat in a hard, fold out chair in the left most corner of the final row, pushing the sead out slowly so that it wouldn't creek beneath her weight. The rehearsal was coming to a close, and as she looked up onto the stage, she spotted Alison and Felix in the back row, both holding an overly enthusiastic jazz hand pose. She couldn't help but giggle at Ali's wide frozen grin and bulged out eyes.

"No, no, no! The jazz hands need more ENERGY and LIFE!" a man standing in front of the stage shouted, clutching his hands to his head in frustration. Beth assumed this was the director she had heard about; the one Alison called "brilliant" and Felix called "effing nuts." As the cast spread their fingers forcefully and lifted their arms higher in an attempt to capture the "life" required, the director merely sighed. "You all are hopeless! Go home and practice more. I'll see you on Monday. Remember, our show is a short TWO WEEKS away."

The cast quickly made their way toward the wings to grab their belongings, exiting the stage before the director could change his mind about releasing them to enjoy their weekend. Beth slowly rose, as she saw Alison walking toward her, a smile crossing her features at the sight of her friend. "What are you doing here? I thought I was coming to get you at your place?" She pulled Beth into a tight hug, a gesture that had quickly become their regular greeting.

Beth smiled, enjoying the warmth of Ali's hug, before pulling away, "I lost track of time in the library, so I figured I'd just meet you here. You don't mind swinging by my place so I can grab my things before we go to Sarah's?" Alison shook her head, "Of course not."

"Perfect," responded Beth, before a sneaky grin slipped across her face, "I enjoyed watching you rehearse." Alison smiled shyly, looking at her feet, and trying to ignore the tingling feeling in her chest that Beth's compliment gave her. "We still have a lot of work to do before the show—"

"Good _god_, what are you to still hanging around for?" Felix whisper shouted from the doorway. "Get out, now. Don't look back. Unless you'd _like_ to rehearse with that old coot all bloody weekend."

* * *

"Woah, so they just disappeared then?" Sarah responded with wide eyes, as Beth told them all what her mother had told her about her birth parents. The four girls and Felix were huddled around Sarah's couch, snacking on a plate of chocolate chip cookies that Siobhan had baked for them. "Holy watershed," Cosima whispered, running a hand through her dreads, "And you think that … they disappeared because you're a clone?"

"What other explanation _is_ there, Cosima?" Alison snapped, rolling her eyes as she placed shaking hand to her face, "Jesus Murphy, I thought you were supposed to be the genius."

"Oi, lay off her, yeah?" Sarah inserted protectively, "She was just askin'."

"I mean, there isn't really any way to know for sure, but that's what it seems like," Beth mumbled, shaking her head slowly as she fought off chills. The thought still scared her; according to her mother, her birth parent's disappearance was never solved.

Alison jumped to her feet and began pacing back and forth, "And the DYAD _still_ hasn't responded to my parent's inquiry about the 'mix-up' with the invitro. As if anything they say can be trusted anyway. They've lied, and spied, and not it looks like they have the power to just make people disappear. They can do _whatever they want_ and we're obviously just lab rats in their illegal experiments!" Alison shrieked, throwing her hands up to indicate the gravity of the situation.

"Calm down and breathe a minute, alright?" Felix interjected, also rising to his feet and putting his hand on Alison's shoulder. "You all don't really know all that yet, do you? You're just jumping to conclusions."

"I mean, what other explanation is there, though?" Beth responded, leaning back against the couch and rubbing circles into her temples with her left hand. "And does it even matter? What can we even do now?"

Alison stopped pacing, and slowly looked over at Cosima, "You said you never talked to your parents about being adopted. Do you even know what happened?" Cosima shook her head, but had an unsettling feeling that she knew what Alison was about to demand. Refusing to look up at her clone, she responded defiantly, "Not gonna happen."

Alison sat down next to her, turning toward her urgently, "Are you sure you couldn't ask your parents—"

"Dad's dead. And mom..." Cosima paused. She hadn't told any of them that she had run into her mother today, and she wasn't planning on it. Especially not now, "Like I said, not gonna happen."

But Alison pushed on, her paranoia overpowering her already faint sense of boundaries, "How did your dad die?" The others looked from Alison to Cosima nervously, not unsure of how to intervene in what they could already tell was a trainwreck waiting to happen. To their surprise, Cosima calmly answered the question, "Car accident about 9 months ago. Before I moved here."

Her eyes growing wide, Alison barreled through the next question, throwing caution to the wind. "Do you _know_ that's what happen?" At that, Cosima finally looked up at her clone, her eyes unreadable behind her thick rimmed glasses, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, did you see the body?" Alison asked tactlessly. "Ali," Beth said softly in an attempt to get her to stop, but she just kept going. "What if someone hit his car on purpose? What if there was no car accident at all? Don't you _see_? This could all be the work of DYAD!"

"Alison, _stop_!" Sarah yelled, glowering over at her. But it was already too late. Cosima had jumped to her feet, eyes filled with fury as she stormed from the room and up the stairs. Sarah shot Alison a final glare before jumping to her feet to follow Cosima, leaving Alison, Beth, and Felix sitting tensely in the living room.

Beth looked over at Felix and exchanged a knowing glance. They knew Alison had gone too far, but even so, they both worried that maybe she was right.


End file.
